A Familiar Place Christmas
by AnneM.Oliver
Summary: Hermione Granger doesn't have any Christmas cheer this year and is searching every where for it. Maybe if she searched A FAMILIAR PLACE, Christmas cheer might find her instead. Part of the 'A Familiar Place' Series
1. Part I

**A Familiar Place Christmas**

**(A short Christmas Story – Part of the 'A Familiar Place' Series)**

**By**

**AnneM**

* * *

**Part I – **

**Christmas Time is Here, Without the Cheer**

Sitting on the edge of the sofa and looking over boxes that littered the front room of her large, old house, Hermione scooted the closest one to her away from the sofa with her foot and then leaned over another one, which was next to the fireplace hearth. Was it in there? She had already searched all of these boxes here, as well as all of the Christmas boxes in the attic. If she couldn't find it in one of these boxes, she would assume it was long gone.

Her sixteen-year-old daughter ran into the room, along with her daughter's fifteen-year-old boyfriend, Mark. The two had officially been 'dating' since the start of the school term. Mark was the son of one of Hermione's best friends, Nick Boot, and nephew of Draco's best friend, Don Boot. He was also the grandson of a vampire named Sanguini, although no one would ever mistake the perpetual 'thirty-year old' looking vampire as the 'grandfatherly' type.

Ever inquisitive, just as her mother was at that age, Hermione knew if Carina saw all of these boxes opened all over, she would wonder what was going on – after all, they had already decorated for house for Christmas two days ago. There was no reason for there to be 'Christmas' boxes all over the front parlor, yet here they were, ALL OVER the front parlor.

"What's up, Mummy?" Carina asked, coming to a halt in front of the sofa.

"Nothing," Hermione lied, closing the box she had just looked into. She knew Carina would wonder what she was doing. Perhaps she could divert her daughter's attention. "What are you and Mark up to today? It's the first day of your break, so surely you have something planned, besides staying here all day."

"Daddy wants us to help him decorate the outside of the house," Carina offered.

Hermione sighed and stood up. "For goodness sakes. Draco Malfoy has one job, and only one job, to do and he can't even do it himself! And we live in Hogsmeade! He can even use magic!" Hermione complained. "You run along. You don't have to spend your school break doing your father's chores."

"Someone has to do them," their second child, a tall, thirteen-year old blonde girl said. "Father's waiting for you, Carina. You too, Mark."

"What about you, Terran Dawn?" Carina said with a sneer. "You get out of everything, because you're Daddy's favourite."

"I'm reading," she began, holding up a magazine.

"Mummy, tell your darling daughter that a magazine does not constitute reading," Carina laughed. However, she took her boyfriend's hand and headed outside.

Terran looked over at her mother and said, "What are you looking for, Mum?"

"Oh, nothing," Hermione voice sounded muffled as she lied yet again, her head far into the back of yet another box.

Eleven-year-old Cygnus, hair as dark and curly as his mother and oldest sister's hair, walked into the room and said, "This is the last of the boxes from the shed, Mum, but I think these are really old decorations, because the boxes are all dusty and moldy. Some are even slightly damp and destroyed. Still, they do say 'Christmas' on them."

"Thanks, Cyggy," Hermione offered, leveling her wand at the last two boxes the young man brought into the room. She brought them over to her and began to look inside.

"What is she looking for?" Terran asked again.

"You aren't supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, but what do I expect from the only Malfoy sibling not named after a constellation? Oh, and also the dumb blonde in the family," Cygnus teased his sister.

A man walked into the room at that moment and said, "Hey, I'm blond, and I'm part of this family, too."

With her head still in a box, Hermione said, "He only objects to the fact that his son forgot he was in the family, not that he was dumb." Then with her head out of the box, she said, "And she's named after Terry and Don Boot. That's better than being named after a stupid constellation. I wouldn't have named any of you after constellations, except your father insisted."

Draco glared at his wife.

She continued, "And he only insisted because his father insisted."

With a smirk, Draco told his only blonde child, "Thank your stars you're named after the Boots. Your mother wanted to name Carina 'Hydra' after the eight-armed snake goddess."

Hermione threw a pillow at Draco's head and said, "AND CONSTELLATION!"

Both of his children laughed. Hermione huffed, frowned, and stuffed her head back inside a box. Draco took in his wife's weary countenance, made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat and said, "Go on with you both," to his children. "Leave us alone for a while. Help Carina and Mark with the outside decorating."

"Mummy said you were to do it," Terran relayed.

"Yes well, Mummy's head's stuck deep in a box, so what Mummy doesn't know won't hurt her," Draco joked.

"She'll still know," Cygnus pleaded. As they left the room he said, "Perhaps he is dumber than you."

Draco plopped on the couch, throwing a book and a box off the other end to the floor. "You know, I would never have been as disrespectful to my father as they are to me."

Hermione looked up at her husband, smiled, and said, "I know. Isn't it great?"

"Yeah, it is," he agreed with a grin. Slipping off the couch, he slid to the floor beside her. "What are you searching for, little one?"

"I can't tell you," she answered, placing a hand on his thigh, with another sigh.

A four-year-old boy with dark, sandy hair came running into the front room holding a green, glass spider made of fragile glass in his hand. Hermione gasped as soon as she saw it, Draco got up to his knees, but it was too late. Little Leo, their youngest and most adored, tripped over one of the boxes that was strewn around the room and he dropped the little glass spider.

"Leo, what have you done, baby boy?" Draco asked his youngest son, standing up and sweeping the boy off his feet.

Hermione remained on her hands and knees, picking up pieces of broken glass, here and there. "Oh, Draco, it's ruined," she cried, remembering the first Christmas she obtained the ornament.

She got it two Christmases before Draco went back in time to their sixth year in school. That Christmas, while he was in the past and she in the future, was a terrible Christmas to be sure. All she remembered from that Christmas was that she was pregnant with Carina, and she felt sad, lonely, and that they were so very far apart, which made her miss her husband fiercely.

* * *

_Flashback __to __Familiar __Place __III-_

_Ron finished putting the Christmas tree in the corner of Hermione's living room, turned on the lights, and asked, "Is that good? Do you want to decorate it now?" She didn't answer. He turned to look at her. "Hermione?" She was sitting on the couch, a small ornament in her hand. He came to sit beside her. He knocked his shoulder into hers. "That's a strange ornament."_

_"It's a spider. A glass spider," she said, holding it up by the silver string, and watching it as it swayed back and forth. Ron grimaced. He didn't even like spider ornaments. She placed it under his nose and he pushed it away with his hand, which made her laugh._

_She said, "Draco bought it for me two years ago." She fingered the small silver and green, glass spider. The silver piece of string from which it hung was so thin and wasp like, it was almost as if it was a piece of spider web. She started to hand it to Ron, but he shook his head no._

_She said, "According to a German and Ukrainian legend, once upon a time, long, long ago, a mother was cleaning her house to prepare it for the most important day of the year. She was preparing it for Christmas Eve. It was a day to honour the Christ child, and she didn't want even one speck of dirt to be left in her house. All of the spiders in the house went to one little corner of the ceiling to avoid being swept away when she dusted. When it was apparent that she was even going to clean the ceiling, they went to hide in the attic._

_"The tree by the hearth in the living room was decorated with all sorts of finery - glass bulbs, golden ribbons, and candles and such. The spiders wanted to see the tree, and they also wanted to be present on Christmas Eve, to catch sight of the Christ child."_

_She placed the fragile spider in Ron's large hand, whether he wanted it there or not, and continued to speak. She didn't see that Harry and Ginny were standing in the doorway, listening intently along with Ron, or that her mother and father had walked in from the other doorway, behind them, from the dining room, and were listening, too._

_"The oldest spider suggested that they go down and peek through the crack in the door, to see the wonderful tree, so they crept down the stairs and they waited at the crack in the door. When someone opened to door, they scurried into the room. The room was too bright for their eyes, from the light of the fire, and the candles on the tree, which reflected on the glass bulbs. Since they couldn't see the tree from far away, they crept up and over the tree, up and down, around and around, each and every twig and branch, so that they could see every little ornament. Once they had seen the entire tree, the oldest spider declared that they should go back to the attic."_

_"Therefore, they left, but what they didn't understand was that every single branch and ornament that they had touched, they had also left behind a web. When the Christ Child came to bless the house, he saw all the webs, and since he loved every living creature, including spiders, and he didn't want the mother of the house to be angry at the spiders, or dismayed that they had ruined the tree for her children, he touched the webs with his finger. When he did, they all started to sparkle and shimmer, silver, gold, and bright. When the children and the mother came to see the tree the next morning, they saw the silver and gold shining webs, and they were filled with delight, and ever since then, according to legend, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas tree, to honour the spiders."_

_She took the little glass spider back from Ron and he said, "I still hate spiders."_

_They all laughed and then Hermione said, "And still I miss Draco." Everyone stopped laughing. She walked up to the tree, hung the spider, and walked out of the room._

* * *

**Back to the present - **

"Sorry, Mummy," Leo said from his father's arms.

"I know, sweetheart, but you were told to leave the ornaments on the tree," Hermione scolded. She threw the glass remains in one of the boxes that her older son had brought in from the shed and then started up the stairs.

Draco, still holding Leo, watched as his wife climbed the stairs one at a time, slowly. "Little one, if you'll just let us know what you were looking for in the boxes, we'll help you find it," Draco called up to her.

"Never mind, it's not important," she called back down. Then walking down the hallway to her bedroom, she said to herself, "and I was merely looking for some Christmas cheer, but I don't think I'm going to find it this year."

(Part II coming up!)

* * *

*I started this last year and didn't finish. I don't really have much Christmas cheer myself this year. Maybe I can find some of my own while Hermione finds hers.


	2. Part II

**Part II – Come Sit Upon Santa's (or Draco's) Knee**

In a chair tucked in the corner of her large bedroom, Hermione sat looking out the window toward the grey, ugly day outside. Hearing footsteps behind her of someone entering the room she said, "It's supposed to be cold this time of year but instead we have a warm, ugly day."

"Yes, it is unseasonable warm," Draco agreed, placing his hand upon his wife's shoulder to gaze out the window along with her.

"If it's going to be ugly and grey, the least the weather could do is snow or something," Hermione added.

Leaning down, Draco whispered in her ear, "Would that give you the Christmas cheer you're looking for, little one?" Nudging her hair away from her neck with one hand, he kissed the skin over her pulse with a lingering kiss. "How about this?" he asked after the kiss, not waiting for an answer to the first question.

Pulling her from her chair, he replaced her body with his, sat down, and pulled her onto his lap. Then he held up the green and silver glass spider, repaired no doubt by magic. "Here you go, good as new. I didn't know this little thing meant so much to you. When I got it for you, I bought it hoping it would bother the 'red weasel' if he ever saw it," Draco joked, reminding Hermione of her past relationship with Ron.

Smiling, she took the fragile piece of spun glass from his hand and then leaned over and placed it on the windowsill. "It's only an ornament. What's important are the memories it represents. I didn't mean to hurt Leo's feelings."

"Oh the boy's already forgotten it," Draco explained. "Father's come by. You know how devoted the old man is to his grandchildren. He gave Leo a Galleon for this trouble, and the boy was good as new."

Hermione looked shocked, Draco smiled with chagrin, and then Hermione sighed. "Your father is hopeless."

"Agreed." Draco held his wife close and said, "I have something else for you. Something that might make you happy. Do you feel it in my pocket?"

Hermione pushed away from his arms while remaining on his lap, slapped his chest and said, "I'm not in the mood for sex. That won't make me happy! It might make you happy, but not me!"

"I'm shocked at you!" her husband said with a smirk. "I didn't have sex on my mind."

She glared at him. "You always have sex on your mind! If you don't have sex on your mind, then what do I feel on my bum?"

He maneuvered her just right and then reached inside his trouser pocket and drew out an old pinecone, which was crumbling to dust in his hand.

Frowning, she took the old pinecone from him and asked, "What in the world is this?"

"_This_," he emphasized, "was one of the original ornaments from our first tree together. Remember? We went into the woods and picked out pinecones, leaves, and such and then we transfigured them into ornaments for our first tree? Good times, good times." He balled his hand into a fist…a sort of protective cocoon, over her hand and the pinecone.

Looking into his smiling grey eyes she asked, "What happened to it?"

"I guess the magic's wore off or something. The charm didn't last. I found it in one of those old boxes Cygnus brought in from the shed." He opened both of their hands and they both stared down at the now mostly crumbled pieces of pinecone.

"I guess nothing good ever lasts," she whispered.

"We have," he refuted softly. After a mere heartbeat he asked, "Truly, what's wrong old girl?"

"Just a nagging feeling I have that something's off, that's all," she offered. Placing her hand on his chest she said, "Our first Christmas was the best." Smiling she continued, "I remember sitting with you, almost like this a few days before Christmas. Even though we went through a trying year the year before, and strange things were going on around us even that year, I remember it as one of the best years of my life."

"It was one of the best of mine as well," he concurred, his hand moving lightly up and down her arm. "It was our first Christmas as a couple and as you said, it was the best." He winked at her. "For many reasons."

"You took my virginity." She looked up at him after she said that statement. "Is that why you think it was the best Christmas?"

_"Noooo,"_ he argued, drawling out the 'no'. "Pardon me, former Granger, but you planned everything down to the last kiss. That's the way I remember it. You sprang it on me unexpectedly, telling me that you had planned to give your virginity as my Christmas present. Remember? Surely you recall that." He seemed slightly annoyed to have to remind her of something so important.

With her head back on his chest she said, "You know what, for once you're right."

With an intake of breath he said, "And no one's here to witness it. Merlin preserve me."

* * *

_**Flashback to A Familiar Place I**_

"_I want to go home," she decided. "I always considered Hogwarts my home, but not anymore. I want to write to my parents, and tell them I'm coming home for the holidays after all. Will you come up to the Owlery with me? I'm afraid to go up there by myself. I'm not sure how I'll arrange to get all the way to Australia, but even if I have to take a Muggle airplane, I will."_

_He didn't want her to go. He would miss her and be terribly lonely without her, but not everything was about him. He had never realized that before. He had always been a very selfish boy, but thanks to Hermione, he had learned finally to be selfless, instead of selfish. He would help her to go home._

_Draco said, "Maybe Mr. Weasley can arrange an international Portkey for you. I would hate you to have to take a Muggle airplane by yourself, and it would be such a long trip. We should write to him as well."_

_"Draco," Hermione stood and took his arm, "I don't want to go by myself. I want you to go with me. I meant I wanted us to go home."_

_That's what she meant? She wanted him to go with her? What would her parents think? Had she ever told them anything about him? All these years, surely she had told her parents how much he had teased and tormented her, or how he had called her Mudblood, and now, she wanted him to go home with her._

_"Have you ever told your parents anything about me?" he asked, guardedly._

_"Well, I told them I was dating someone," she stated._

_"I mean, over the years, had you ever mentioned me?" He wanted her to understand, but it was hard to ask._

_She did understand and she said, "Oh, Malfoy, don't be so silly. I told you, I've always kept the two worlds separate. They don't really know much of anything. They'll like you. They're wonderful people, and I can't go home without you."_

_She once thought of Hogwarts as home. It was only a few months ago, on the train coming back here that she felt as if she was finally coming home, but now she didn't know what to think. She now realized home was where the heart was, and her heart was with Draco._

_"Draco, that's fine, we can stay here." She went to pick up the box off Neville's bed. "I don't know if they managed to salvage any of my pajamas or not," she stated._

_Draco started looking through Neville's drawers and she said, "What is it with you snooping in everyone's things?"_

_"I'm trying to find you something to wear, but if you want to go naked, I don't mind," he joked as he finally pulled out a flannel nightshirt, and drawstring pants. "You take the bottoms and I'll take the top," he said smiling._

_She grabbed the top from him and headed toward the showers. He stuck his head out the door and said, "No, I said, I'll take the top," but she was already in the girl's bathroom. He laughed and headed toward the boy's bathroom, with the flannel bottoms in his hand._

_Hermione arrived to Neville's room before Draco. Was he __serious __when __he __said __they __should __both __stay __there? __What __did __he __mean? __Was __he __implying __that __they __should__ "__sleep __together__" __or __just __**sleep **__together? __Hermione__ decided __there __was only __one __way __to __find __out, __so __even __though __it __was __only eight __at __night, Hermione __headed __to __Neville__'__s __little __bed, __pulled __down __the __covers, __and __climbed __in. __She __felt __ridiculous __just __laying __there. __She __felt __like __some __slag. __She __tried __to __climb __back __out __of __the __bed __when __Draco __took __that __moment __to __walk __in __the __tiny __room._

_"Are you getting in bed or getting out, Granger?" he asked with a sly smile. He had on Neville's sleeping pants, and a white t-shirt._

_"I, well, I was cold, but then, I thought I should go elsewhere, and then I thought…" she was rambling. She was on her knees, on the bed, and the covers were pulled down. He looked at her with a look she wasn't completely aware of what it meant, but she felt more of an idiot than ever._

_He sat on the bed and pushed her back to a seated position. She tried to reach for the covers, but he had his hand on her ankle, which was slowing moving up her leg._

_"I didn't think you would take me serious when I said we should both stay in here tonight." He avoided the word 'sleep' because sleeping was the last thing on his mind._

_"I didn't," she lied._

_"Sure, you didn't," he said back, nodding his head up and down. His hand was now on her knee. He let it slip further up, to her thigh. His thumb was still moving back and forth, although his hand was no longer moving. She immediately folded her legs in front of her and put one of Neville's pillows on her lap. He removed his hand and laughed aloud. "Do you think that big bad pillow will protect you from me?"_

_"Do I need protecting from you?" she asked._

_"You might, if you plan to sleep here with me," he declared with one eyebrow raised. He reached for the pillow and they had a little tug of war. He won. He threw the pillow over his shoulder. Hermione got up on her knees and scooted back up against the headboard. The wall was on one side and Draco was on the other._

_He got up on his knees on the bed and said, "Where are you going? The door's over there," and he motioned with his head._

_"I wasn't going to the door," she said, trying to sound calmer than she felt._

_"Were you going to the wall, because that's where you are," he said with a grin._

_She didn't know what came over her, but she pushed him back, but he only moved an inch._

_"You're so strange," he said, seriously. "Now, don't assault me anymore, you bully, and get under the covers, I'm cold." He stood back up, went, and got the pillow. He was having some fun, but he could tell she wasn't ready for the type of fun he had in mind. He would just 'sleep' with her, if that's what she wanted, at least, for now._

_When he came back over to the bed, she was back under the covers, but was so close to the wall that Draco thought she looked more like a picture on the wall, than a person on the bed. He put the pillow at the head of the bed and plopped down beside her, propped up on his elbow. He patted the space beside him on the bed and said, "No reason to be shy, Granger, we've already established that I won't try anything until you're ready. Come here, my little one, I want to see you. I won't bite, yet."_

_She gave him a funny look, but came closer. She propped up on her elbow as well. They were only centimeters from each other. She could feel the material of his flannel pants up against her knee. He reached over and touched her nose, then the side of her nose, then her cheek twice, then her other cheek, then her chin. "What are you doing?" she asked amused._

_"Quiet, I'm counting your freckles, and now I've lost count," he said._

_"I have twelve," she said smiling._

_His grin was as wide as hers. "You've counted your own freckles before?"_

_"Yes, is there something wrong with that?" she asked._

_"It's a bit odd," he concluded._

_"Let's see, you've called me strange, a bully, and now odd. Yes, I would say the likelihood of even getting me to kiss you tonight are close to zero, let alone sleeping with you," she told him. She put her hand up to his cheek and drew her fingers down it feathery soft. She brought her hand back quickly to her side. She was embarrassed that she did that._

_He looked down at her hand, and took it in his. He brought it back up to his face, fell back on his back, and said, "That feels nice, do it again," and he shut his eyes._

_She moved closer to him, leaning partly on his chest and arm, and she started touching his face and head. She stroked his hair, and even outlined his lips. She touched his neck and then, as if she was really trying to study him, she leaned even closer and she let her hand travel down his chest. He was aware of her breasts pressed against his arm. He was curious as to what she would do next._

_She could see the outline of his nipples through his t-shirt. She felt brave, so she traced one nipple, then the other. His eyes flew open, but she was not looking at his face. She was concentrating on the trip her hand was taking._

_Her hand went to the ridge of his ribcage, and then down to his flat stomach, but it was stopped by the bunch of the sheet and blanket, which he had draped over the lower part of his body when he first came to the bed. She looked up at him quickly, and he now had his eyes shut. Hermione wrapped her right leg over Draco's legs, leaned forward, leaning completely on his chest now, and started to kiss his lips. His hands came up around her, one on the small of her back, and the other hiking up the nightshirt just a bit, so his hand was touching the curve of her backside, his fingertips feeling the silkiness of her knickers._

_If she kept that up, he would be forced to make love to her. He would have no choice. He said, "Are you aware of what you are doing to me?"_

_And she asked, "What?"_

_He answered her the only way he could. He pushed her off him and stormed out of the room. What had she done wrong?_

_Hermione stayed in Neville's bed for a moment wondering what was wrong with Draco. She had planned to sleep with him at Christmas. That was to be his present. Maybe she should have discussed the idea with him. Or maybe, he wasn't keen on the thought of sleeping in someone else's bed. It wasn't yet Christmas after all, she had a week to go. She could wait. She just didn't want to wait._

_She pulled back the covers, went to one of Neville's dresser drawers, and found a comfortable pair of woolen socks. She put them on her feet and went to go get Draco._

_He was sitting in the common room, staring in the fire, sitting on one of the overstuffed chairs. She walked in, walked over, and sat on the couch. She didn't know what to say. She had rejected him a few times, but he had never rejected her. Of course, she hadn't given him a reason to._

_"Draco, what's wrong?" she finally asked._

_He turned; surprised that she was there. He hadn't heard her enter. He got up from the chair and went to sit on the other end of the couch._

_"What were you doing back there, Granger, in Neville's room?" he asked._

_"I was kissing you." She really did not know what else to say._

_"Would it have led to more?" he asked point-blank._

_"Perhaps, I mean, I hadn't planned on sleeping with you until Christmas, but if it happened sooner, that would have been all right, too," she said truthfully._

_He gave her a quizzical look and said, "You planned on sleeping with me at Christmas? When did you plan all of this? Were you going to tell me?"_

_She felt so stupid. That did sound lame. She wished she could run to her room and hide, but since that wasn't an option, she got up from the couch and sat in the chair he abandoned. It was still warm from his body heat. She drew her legs up to her chin and stared in the fire._

_He stood behind the chair and put his hand on her head. He bent down, kissed the top of her head, and let his hand fall to her cheek. He came to the front of the chair, pulled her up, sat down, and put her on his lap._

_"You are strange, little one," he reiterated. "I hate to keep pointing out the obvious, but you are, no two ways about it. You planned on sleeping with me?"_

_"Well, haven't you planned on sleeping with me?" she asked. She knew he had._

_"I wouldn't exactly call in planned. I've thought about it, constantly, dreamt about it nightly, hoped it would happen, imagine it in every way, and every position, but PLANNED, no, I've not planned the whole thing, only you would do something like that," he declared._

_She __tried to get off his lap. She thought he was making fun of her, and she felt like crying. He could tell he offended her, and he wouldn't let her leave. "So, Granger, tell me how this was all supposed to workout, since you planned it all. You probably planned what you were going to wear, and what you would say, and how I would act, and how many times we would kiss, and how many minutes of foreplay until the final act, and then how many orgasms we would have." **He was making fun of her!**_

_She turned in his arms, hit his chest very hard, and said, "I've amended my plan, and now I don't intend to **ever** sleep with you."_

_"Oh, I'm not saying it's not a good plan, I'm having a bit of fun with you, that's all. I think it's a right jolly good plan. Very solid. Have you been making notes, outlining the whole thing? Do you have a contingency plan, in case of rain?" Now he was laughing. He was just having a bit of fun, and he had no idea that he was really causing her actual anguish until she shot off his lap._

_She stood in front of the fire, turned to him and said, "How dare you make fun of me! Do you think it's every day that I plan to give someone my virginity! I can only give it away once, you know! I loved Ron very much, but I never thought about sleeping with him. You're such an arse, Malfoy! Just go away and make fun of me in private, because I don't want to hear it!" She ran down the hall, to Neville's room, shut, and locked the door with her wand._

_Draco got up from the chair and sat down in front of Neville's door. "So, Granger," he said from his side of the door, "Do you want to know why I sought you out that day on the train?" She did want to know, so she took a cover off of Neville's bed and put it on the floor, and sat on it by the door to listen._

_He continued, "I had spent the first part of the journey in a compartment by myself. I was bored and lonely and I got up to stretch my legs. I actually sought you out. I had heard from my mother that you would be in school this year, so I decided to have some entertainment, and go make fun of you for a while." He stopped for a moment. That part, he hated to admit, was true. He sought her out to torment her, because he was bored._

_She opened the door a crack, but stayed safely on her side. He acted like he hadn't noticed. "I found you in the first compartment, all by yourself, reading a book. At that exact moment, you looked out the window, and you looked so happy. You looked overwhelmed at the thought of returning to school. I hated the thought of going back, and there you were, having had a worse year last year than I had, and you were happy about the whole thing. I went back and got my bag, and came into your compartment. I made a little deal with myself, if you spoke first, with anything but a kind word, I would be relentless. I would call you a bad name, and tease you and give you a hard time. I thought you would say something like, 'What are you doing back' or 'no one asked you to come into my compartment', or 'go away Death Eater', but instead, you merely looked at me and continued reading."_

_She interjected and said, "I was ignoring you. I had made a little mental bet with myself as well, and I thought well, if he speaks to me first, like says hello or whatever, I'll say hello back. Funny, my bet with myself was to be nice to you if you were nice to me, and your bet was to be mean if I was mean."_

_He said, "I don't see the irony. You are nice, and I am not, so it's not that farfetched that we would each think that way." Opening the door wider and asked, "What made you follow me, instead of the others, on our little hike? Why did you trust me?"_

_She opened the door the rest of the way and said, "Well, you said you knew the way."_

_He laughed and said, "Oh, Granger, I was lying! I didn't know the way!" He was laughing so hard. She tried to slam the door shut again, but he blocked it with his body._

_She was half smiling and said, "Do you ever tell the truth?"_

_"I've told you the truth exactly four times," he said, "I told you I loved you, I told you that you were strange, I told you that I was no longer afraid of Mudblood germs, and I told you that your plan to seduce me was a right fine idea."_

_Hermione laughed and fell on the floor. "You are joking, right?" she said, giggling._

_"Well, maybe I've told you the truth on a couple of other times, but I'm not certain," he said, climbing in the room, and hovering over her body, which was still on the cold stone floor, "May I kiss you?"_

_She said, "That's not part of my plan."_

_"Piss on your plan, kiss me, Granger," he said, pressing his full weight on her body. He put his lips on hers and moved them gently, exploring the curves of her smile, and length of her tongue. He put his hand under her head, so it wasn't pressed on the hard ground. He left her mouth and kissed her neck. He put his other hand on her nightshirt and tried to unbutton one of the buttons._

_She put her hands on his and said, "That's not part of the plan either, and for your information, it wasn't just a plan, it was going to be your Christmas present."_

_He started to snicker, but saw that she was sincere, so he stood up quickly, and literally picked her up off the ground, blanket and all, and said, "Far be it for me to spoil a present, so let's just get some sleep. However, I swear if you end of getting me socks instead, I will strangle you in your sleep, and not care what anyone thinks." He led her to Neville's bed and put her down on top of it, letting her crawl in first, then he stayed on the outside of the covers, covering his body with the blanket she had on the floor._

_He pulled her body close to his and said, "I can't wait for Christmas," and he couldn't suppress his grin._

* * *

**Back to the Present**

Draco's index finger began to drift over his wife's face – first her cheeks, then her forehead, her chin, her nose.

"What are you doing?" she asked, eyes half closed.

"I'm counting freckles again. I wonder if you've gotten anymore since I've married you." His hand went to her neck, then her chest, lightly, softly it traveled down to rest upon her still flat stomach.

"What's the verdict?" Her eyes were now fully closed.

"You now have eleven freckles. Where did the other one go?" he whispered against her hair, his hand creeping up under the bottom of her shirt. "Did it run away? Is it under here?"

Hermione tilted her head back, opened her eyes, just in time to see her husband's face as he leaned toward her for a kiss. Placing her arms around his neck, she arched her body upwards toward his, pulling his face closer as she did.

"Don't you two ever get sick of that?" a lazy sounding voice said from the doorway.

Draco pulled away from his wife's mouth and looked up. In the doorway was the vampire Sanguini. Now he closed his eyes, in frustration. "Don't you ever knock? Or better yet, don't you ever die? Why are you even here?"

"The little woman asked for me," he said with a particularly tooth grin, as he leaned effortlessly against the doorjamb. "And you know I'm particularly partial to her whims, among other things."

While Draco groaned, Hermione leaped from Draco's lap, crossed the room quickly and took the vampire's hand in hers. Leading him out the door, she called back to her husband, "We'll be back. Sanguini is going to help me find my Christmas cheer. It shouldn't take long, but don't hold dinner."

Then they were gone. Draco stared incredulously at the empty space in front of him. With a frown he stood and said, "Well now I'm not very cheerful damn it."


	3. Part III

**Part III – Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree, Lucius Malfoy's not Happy**

Draco stood at the top of the stairs of his house and surveyed the foyer and staircase below him. To the right of the stairs he could see the opening to the large parlor, and if he strained his hearing, he could hear the docile tones of Lucius Malfoy telling his youngest grandson a silly story of how Father Christmas was a pureblood Wizard. When had the old man turned so soft? That's what Draco would like to know.

He started down the stairs but then stopped to look over to his left, toward the study that was used mostly by his wife as a library and an office. Inside that room, he was certain he heard his two daughters arguing. It was hard to tell why they were disagreeing. Probably one said the sky was blue and the other said it was pink.

He turned around to start back up the stairs, hoping no one would see him, but then he heard a friendly voice say, "Are you trying to hide?"

Turning back around, he didn't see anyone, yet he knew that voice as well as he knew his own. Looking back up the stairs, he saw his best friend, Don Boot, standing in the hallway by the upstairs' landing.

"When did you get here?" Draco asked instead of answering his friend's question.

"Nick asked me to see if Mark was still here," he replied. "I thought I'd come up to say hello to Hermione and you, but then I saw her slip by with that vampire."

Neither Draco nor Don liked Sanguini, but they both held him in high esteem for the fact that he had once saved Hermione's life a long time ago. "You mean your nephew's dear grandfather?" Draco snorted.

"Please don't call him that," Don said with a look of disgust on his face. "I try to forget that…well, that…THING…is related to me…every chance I get. It's not as if he has anything to do with Mark's mother, and he barely ever sees my nephew either, so he's really not much of a relative."

Draco shrugged. "Sounds like the best kind of relative to me." Walking up the rest of the steps, he met his friend in the hallway and then suddenly he said, "Hermione's lost her Christmas cheer."

Don laughed.

Draco frowned.

Don stopped laughing. "Oh, you're serious."

"You're damned right I'm bloody well serious. She says she's lost her Christmas cheer and she went off with that vampire to find it. I don't even know what the bloody hell that means," Draco sighed, sitting down on a bench by the long railing that ran along the upstairs hallway.

Don sat beside him, clasped his hands between his knees and contemplated that thought for a moment. "Well, it's her first Christmas without her father. Have you thought of that?"

"Bloody hell, no, I haven't," Draco answered. "I mean, Dr. Granger's been gone for almost nine months, so I guess I didn't give it a thought. Do you think that might be it?"

Don shrugged with one shoulder. "Might be. Remember that first Christmas you spent with them?" Don laughed. "That man did not like you."

"No, you have it all wrong," Draco drawled.

Don raised his eyebrows in question.

"Alright, fine, that man hated me," Draco conclude, "which is so odd, because back then, when I was younger, I was especially lovable and all." They both started laughing. "You know, now that I'm a father, I understand his misgivings. I had hurt her. I'd broken our engagement, or she'd broken it. To tell you the truth, I can't remember who broke it, but still, if a man hurt one of my girls that way, I'd probably hate them, too. Still, her mother loved me. Still does. Mother's always love me."

"Yeah, you're a mother loving fool," Don said with a smile.

* * *

_**Flashback to Familiar Place II**_

_Hermione sat in her parents' living room, looking out at the falling rain. It should be snowing, but it was raining. There was black ice on the roadways, and from all the trees hung icicles, which resembled crystal chandeliers. She had a cup of hot chocolate between her hands, warming her from the impending cold. She felt sad and morose. She had not seen Draco for four days. Not since she threw her engagement ring at his chest._

_She was a fool. He did not come up and apologize. He did not pull her in his arms, and he did not tell her that he loved her. Instead, Don Boot told her the next day that Draco was going home to the Manor. Don said that he had to stay with one of them, and frankly, Draco's need was greater than her need. He said that Draco was so sad and depressed, that Don was afraid of what he might do. She said she understood. Don smiled at her, kissed her cheek, and wished her a 'Happy Christmas'. He told her that there would still be others watching her, but that she should be careful, and stay with her parents at all times._

_As she sat in the chair, looking at the freezing rain, she wondered what he was doing right at that moment. Was he in bed? It was after 11:00 pm. Her mum and dad had already gone to bed, but she wasn't able to sleep, because she missed Draco. That was why she was sitting in the living room, drinking cocoa, at 11:00 pm, watching the freezing rain come down outside her window. Without him, she felt she was nothing. She was more alone than she had ever felt in her entire life._

_She went up to the guestroom, where she was staying, and she took out a parchment and quill. She wrote "I'm sorry!" and she folded the paper, in half, and then in quarters. She threw the quill across the room, got up from the desk, and sat in the corner of the room, rocking back and forth, holding the parchment. She took it out of its envelope, and clinched it in her hand._

_She finally fell asleep, still on the floor, in the corner, with the parchment tight in her hand. Someone entered her room, walked up to her body, curled in a ball, on the cold floor. His heart broke for her. He got down on his knees by her body, and took the piece of parchment from her hand. He read the words written on the crumpled piece of yellow paper, and folded it up and put it in his pocket. He went over to her bed, took a blanket that was folded on the end, and put it over her body. He sat beside her on the floor, and drew her head onto his lap. He stroked her hair, as she slept, and he said, "I'm sorry, too."_

_When she woke shortly after, she was no longer on the floor. She was on the bed. She had no recollection of moving from the floor to the bed. She sat up, and saw Draco on the bed, sleeping next to her. She blinked twice, to make sure she was not dreaming. She was not. He was real, and he was there, beside her. She put her head on his chest and started to cry._

_He woke up, as her tears soaked his shirt. He brushed the hair out of her eyes and said, "Why do you cry, little one?"_

_"Is this a dream?" she asked._

_"If it is, would you say it's a good dream, or a nightmare?" he asked solemnly._

_"Where have you been?" she asked, not answering his inane question._

_"With my mother. Your mother wrote my mother, and said you were miserable, and since I was too, I thought we could meet up and be miserable together," he said softly, kissing the top of her head._

_She put her chin on his chest and looked in his eyes. "I'm sorry," she said._

_He took her note from his pocket and said, "I know, I read your note. I'm sorry, too. I love you and I won't ever leave you again."_

_She said, "Don't make promises you can't keep," and she sat up on the bed, with her back to him._

_"Why would you say that?" he asked. He put one hand on her back. He sat up beside her and pulled her into an embrace. He lay back down, pulling her on top of him. "I always keep my promises. I will not leave you again." He drew a finger down her cheek and sighed. "I may not be as smart as you, but I'm smart enough to know a good thing when I have it tight in my grasp. You're mine forever, and I'll cherish and hold you until the end of my days."_

_She smiled and looked up at him and said, "Those could be your wedding vows."_

_He smiled back and said, "No, my wedding vows will be, 'I used to call you Mudblood, but now I call you my wife'."_

_She hit his chest. "Then mine could be, 'I used to think you were a prat, and now I know you are'."_

_He smiled. "Mine are better. More poetic."_

_She touched his cheek, and then put her hand in his hair. She brushed her fingertips lightly over his eyelashes. She leaned toward him and kissed his right eye, and then his left eye. When she settled back down on the pillow, she said, "May I have my ring back?"_

_He seemed panicked for a moment, and that worried her. He said, "I don't have your ring. Remember, it bounced off my chest and hit the floor. I never bent down to pick it up."_

_She sat up suddenly. "Oh."_

_He said, "I'll get you another ring."_

_"I want that ring." She put her hands up to her eyes and sobbed._

_He sat beside her and brushed her hair away from her forehead. He reached back in his pocket and said, "Here's your ring, you silly little Muggle-born. I went back in that night and got it off the floor. You were already asleep." He placed it back on her finger, where it belonged._

_"You're mean," she smiled. "There was no reason to cause me undue worry and stress."_

_"You have a point, but you are so gullible sometimes, that I find it fun to torment you," he said, pulling her back down to his chest._

_Hermione hid her head in his chest and said, "What did you tell your mum, when you went home without me?"_

_"I told her you were a harpy, and you were mean to me, and broke my heart, and threw your ring at me, and made me cry," he rambled._

_She smiled and looked in his eyes and said, "What was her reaction?"_

_"Truthfully?" he asked. She nodded. "She asked me what I did to you, and whatever it was, I probably deserved everything you did to me. What can I say, my mother loves you."_

_"I'm sure," she said doubtfully._

_"What did you tell your mum and dad?" he asked._

_"My mum immediately started to show me all the plans for the wedding, and I started crying and told her that I was a harpy, and I was mean to you, and I broke your heart, and threw my ring at you, and, what was the other thing?"_

_"Made me cry," he added._

_"Yes, and I made you cry," she said._

_"What did they say? Did they ask what I did to deserve it?" he asked._

_"No, they asked me what I did to you, to make you, make me, so angry," she laughed. "See, I guess my parents love you, too."_

_"Hermione, let's not fight anymore," he said lightly._

_"Draco, I can almost guarantee that won't work. Of course, we're going to fight, probably a lot, but that's okay. That's life. People fight, and then make up, everyday," she said, rationally._

_"Way to bust my romantic bubble, Granger," he said, with a sour expression._

_"The truth hurts sometimes, Malfoy," she laughed._

_"Go back to sleep, Granger. It will be dawn soon, and we have Christmas things to do. What do Muggles do for Christmas, anyway?" he said, rubbing her back._

_"Probably the same things purebloods do, Draco," she said, slightly annoyed._

_"They have their house elves decorate the trees?" he asked earnestly._

_She laughed, "Of course, not."_

_"They have their house elves cook a Christmas feast?" he asked, with a smile._

_"No, not quite," she said, kissing his chin._

_"Do they capture Muggles and chain them together and force them to stand around the tree, and sing Christmas carols?" he asked._

_She sat up at that one, looked at him harshly, and said, "Certainly not, and that one better be a joke."_

_"You can pretend if you want, but it's not a joke," he said, sitting up as well, "My favourite song for the enslaved Muggles to sing was 'Hark, the Purebloods are better than me, Glory to the pureblood Kings!'."_

_"Draco!" she warned._

_"What? Do you prefer 'Oh, Come all ye Mudbloods'?" he asked, wide eyed._

_She turned to him and hit his chest twice, "That's so mean!" She pushed him down and straddled his waist. She said, "Apologize!"_

_"I'm sorry!" he said, bringing his hands up in a defensive mode, "I should have known your favourite song was 'Muggles Roasting Over an Open Fire', so forgive me for getting that wrong."_

_She hit him a few more times and said, "Now would be a perfect time to stop talking!" She hit him once more._

_"Make me," he challenged._

_"I will if you ever again, even in jest, mention Mudbloods roasting over an open flame!" Hermione said, bringing her nose down to his._

_"It was Muggles roasting over an open fire, smart-arse!" he said._

_She frowned, and for a brief moment, he thought he might have really hurt her feelings, but then he knew, deep in his heart, that she still loved him. He smiled brightly and said, "Kiss me, little one, for that will shut me up again."_

_She obliged._

_She sat back up, after kissing him, and pulled off her pajama top. He said, "What do you think you are doing?"_

_She did not answer. She rolled off him and removed her pajama pants, and was now only in her white cotton knickers. He smiled an almost wicked smile and said, "Ah, white cotton, my all time favourite," and he let his finger graze the side of her panties, to feel the material._

_He pushed her on her back and attacked her lips again. This time, he was in charge. He stopped for a moment, and then removed his jumper and t-shirt. He kicked off his shoes and socks, and came back to her mouth. He explored her lips, and tongue, and her entire mouth for long moments. He could honestly kiss her forever, and if there were never anything else in his life, he would still be happy._

_His hand stayed atop her breast, not even moving. His lips came to one of her mounds, and he kissed all around it, on the top, the side, the bottom, and between it and its mate. He avoided the peaks. He was teasing her, and he knew she could do nothing about it. Or perhaps she could._

_She said, "No foreplay, let's just make love, please."_

_He smiled and said, "I will do whatever I want, and you will enjoy it," and he reached over and stroked her cheek. He leaned over and kissed her lips once more, swirling his tongue inside her mouth. He put his tongue on one of her nipples finally, rolling it around and sucking hard until it became erect. He hungered for her, and he wanted to feast on her, like she was the ultimate Christmas feast, and he was the only one who would ever devour her._

_He reached down, removed her knickers, and stroked her, as her hands came up and buried themselves in his hair. He continued the slow, torturous massage, until she was wet with her own desire, and he knew he wanted to taste her with every fiber of his being. He looked up at her face, and her eyes were shut and her mouth slightly open. He could not believe she was his._

_He removed the rest of his clothing, and as he continued to stare at her face, she opened her eyes, and their gazes met, and he was full of desire. He took both her hands, and held them in one of his, on her stomach, as he kissed her mouth again. He let her hands go, to touch her most private area, as he exclaimed, "so beautiful, more than I ever imagined," and he dipped his head, and kissed her sweet spot. He took her hands again, in only one of his. His other hand opened her wider, as he explored her with his tongue._

_She started to come just from the pleasure of his mouth, and she tried to remain quiet, with her parents down the hall, but she still let out a small moan. His tongue flicked her over and over, repeatedly, her legs bent at the knees, her toes curled, and she could not escape the cries that came from her mouth._

_He wanted to be inside her more than ever, so that was what happened next. He raised himself on his arms, and showing her no mercy, he arched his back and entered her. Pleasure rose from the depth of his soul, and traveled through space and time to her soul. Unimaginable pleasure, and pain, as he had never known before, passed through them. He opened his eyes and the look on her face was his reward. She was utterly pleased and satisfied._

_He continued, fast, hard, slow, gentle, and every adjective in between. This was not run-of-the-mill fast sex. This was heaven-glorified soul-searching ultimate act of making love. The feel of her warmth around his body was more than he could bear, and he was close to the end. So close. She was vital to his very existence, and they had no barriers between them, so when they finally came, together, in waves of pleasure and ecstasy, it was more intense than they had ever felt before. Their lovemaking was awe inspiring, at least to them. She could only feel him, and he could only feel her, as he quaked inside her, and they came mutually for the first of many times that night._

_After making love, the morning light was finally finding comfort in the dark confines of her room. Hermione was dozing off and on, but Draco was still wide-awake. He cupped her cheek, kissed her lips gently, and said, "Good morning."_

_"Is it?" she said, tired._

_"I don't know," he answered, honestly._

_"Do you know my parents have all kind of plans for today, and thanks to you, I didn't get any sleep last night," she stated._

_"I'm a horrible, evil person, and I should be flogged and hung in the village square," he said._

_"What nonsense," she said, "we don't have a village square."_

_"Ha!" he responded._

_There was a knock on her door. He said, "Probably your mum. She let me in last night. She loves me, you know. Possibly more than she loves you." She glared at him and he said, "I'm just saying…it's possible."_

_Hermione got off the bed, put on her robe, and opened the door. Her mum said, "You and Draco get showered and dressed, and then come down for breakfast. We are going Christmas shopping today. That nice Mr. Boot is coming with us."_

_"Okay, mum," Hermione said, shutting the door. She turned to Draco and said, "I didn't know Don came with you last night. He really is sticking to you like glue, isn't he?"_

_"Yes, he takes this guardian thing serious," Draco said, hopping off the bed. He bent down, picked up his trousers, and slipped them on before he kissed her mouth gently and said, "What do you want for Christmas, Hermione, and please, don't say you don't want anything. I hate when people say that."_

_"Oh no, I want something," she said, placating him. He raised one eyebrow, and she said, "But, I think I already received my present. For all I wanted for Christmas was you, and here you are."_

_"And to think, I didn't have to spend even a Knut on you," he joked. He said, "Do you know what I want for Christmas?"_

_She hugged him tight and asked, "Me?"_

_He scoffed and said, "Heavens no. I want a bright, new, shiny black, car."_

_"What would you do with a car? You can't even drive," she said, puzzled._

_"You can't afford it anyway, so it's a moot point, but a man can dream," he said, walking toward the bathroom._

_"When I marry you, I will have tons of money, so I will buy it for you then," she said._

_"You won't get a single galleon of my money, so you better not quit your day job," he said, adding, "I call the shower first."_

_"That's not fair," she said, sitting on the bed, "I take longer, I should go first."_

_"I'll share," he said, leaning against the doorframe._

_She smiled and ran into the bathroom and said, "What are we waiting for?"_

* * *

**Back to the present –**

Draco relayed most of the story to Don, telling him only that Hermione and he made up after breaking their engagement, and that he teased her with silly names for Muggle Christmas carols.

"Did you ever get your shiny black automobile?" Don asked with a smile.

"No, I'm still waiting for it, too," Draco pouted, "and she controls the purse strings, so you'd think she'd have gotten for me by now."

"It's not as if you drive," Don reminded him.

"A man can own a car with driving," Draco reasoned. "Remember how Hermione bought me that power tool that first year. What was it called again?"

Don laughed. "A drill."

"Yes, a drill, and I never did know what it was used for, yet she's gotten me a power tool of some type every year for Christmas, since then, and I still don't know how to power them."

Don snorted while patting Draco's back. "She's a wonderful wife," his friend suggested, trying hard not to laugh outright.

"Yes, she is." Draco took a deep breath. "And she's off with an effing vampire and I don't like it one bit, not at all."

"Then I say we go find them." Don stood up, offered Draco a hand, and helped him to stand. "If Hermione needs Christmas cheer, she needs it from you, not him."

"By jove, old man, I think you're right." Draco nodded. "Let's see if Grandfather Malfoy will look after the wee ones while we're away." Draco turned on his heel to start back down the stairs and ran head straight into his father.

"What did you need to see me for, son?"

"Goodness, is everyone lurking around my house these days?" Draco asked.

"It's the only way to find out anything good," Lucius declared. "Now tell me, what do you need from me?"

"I need you to watch the grand-nappies while Don and I rescue my wife from the evil clutches of a vampire and Christmas gloom," Draco proposed.

Lucius frowned and looked over to Don. "Will you translate for him? He's thirty-five years old and I still can't understand a thing he says."

"Hermione think she's lost her Christmas cheer and she left a while ago with Sanguini to find it. We've decided to go find them, to intervene, and would like you to say and watch Cygnus and Leo."

Lucius shook his head no. "Carina and your nephew Mark, as well as Terran, can watch the boys. I'm going with you."

Draco made a face. "No father, stay here!"

"What did you say?" His father raised one eyebrow and gave him his best haughty glare.

"Please?" Draco tact on.

Don laughed.

"I most certainly will not stay here. If there's a crisis in this family, then it behooves me, as head of the family, to solve it. I can't leave it to you to do so, or nothing will get accomplished," Lucius said, pulling down on the cuffs of both sleeves of his midnight-black robe. "Now, where did they go?"

"Damn, I don't even know," Draco commented.

"See?" Lucius declared.

Cygnus Malfoy stood just inside his bedroom door listening to his father, grandfather, and his godfather and he wondered something…should he tell them what he knew? Should he tell them what he heard?

Walking slowly out to join the other men, he looked up at them and said, "Excuse me, Dad, Grandfather, Uncle Don, but I might at least know why Mummy thinks she's lost her Christmas cheer, if that might help you locate her."

Draco got down on his knees in front of his oldest son and grabbed his arms. "Yes son, tell me, why has mummy lost her Christmas cheer. Tell me what you know."

"Well, it's your fault. Yours and Grandfather's," Cygnus announced. "You made her lose her Christmas cheer."

Draco stood, shocked, his mouth opened, surprised. He looked at his father, in questioning, but it was to no avail, as Lucius stood in utter bewilderment as well. Placing a hand on his grandson's shoulder, Lucius said, "I think you should explain, Cygnus. I think you should explain."


	4. Part IV

**all characters belong to JKR**

**Part IV – Christmas Past & Christmas Future**

Placing a hand on his grandson, Cygnus' shoulder, Lucius said, "I think you should explain, Cygnus. I think you should explain." Why was the lad blaming HIM for Hermione's Christmas cheerlessness?

Cygnus, who lacked his mother's bravery (owing to the fact that fifty percent of his DNA belonged to his father) moved his shoulder out from under his grandfather's hand and started walking down the upstairs hallway toward the third floor stairs. "Never mind. I didn't mean anything, Grandfather." The boy turned to run up the stairs, but was caught by a strong pair of arms immediately as he started toward his room up on the third floor.

It was Harry Potter.

Draco sighed in aggravation and frustration. "Is my home Grand Central Station today?"

Harry regarded Draco with a calm sort of humour (where he once had only held contempt) and said, "Grand Central Station's in New York City, Malfoy. How would you know of it?"

"I know lots of things, Mr. Scarrington. What are you doing here, if you please?" Draco moved to the other side of his son, noticed that Harry then placed the boy behind him, frowned, and then under his breath said, "I wish Hermione would let me set up wards against people with head scars."

"I'll help you with them later, son," Lucius replied.

Carina stood at the top of the main staircase. Deciding she best intervene she said, "I called Uncle Harry, Daddy. I did it when we found out Mummy went missing with Sanguini."

"She's not missing!" Draco pouted. "She's just…well…gone." He sighed…long and loudly. "Fine, she's missing, a little bit."

"That's like you being a little bit dumb," Harry said.

"I swear, Potter," Draco promised, pulling out his wand.

Then suddenly, Harry saw everything in a different light. He decided not to push Draco any longer. Not because he was afraid of Draco's wand. Not because he was afraid of the daggers being thrown his way by Lucius Malfoy's arrogant glare. And not because he was cautious of the fact, that Don Boot had decided to step between him and Draco.

It was because all four Malfoy children, who were as precious to him as his own three children, were standing amongst all the adults, and they all shared looks of worry and fear. He remembered feeling uneasy and afraid as a child and the fact that these children…Hermione's children…should feel such a thing made him feel a bit anxious as well.

"Put your wand away, Malfoy and let's hear what's happening with Hermione."

Cygnus took that moment to run up the attic stairs, slamming his door tightly behind him.

"I'll go find out what's wrong," Lucius declared.

"No, Father," Draco began, only to be interrupted when Don said, "Cyg's a sensitive lad; a lot like my brother Terry was when he was a boy. Let me go, Lucius."

"No, Don," Draco argued, to be cut off when Harry, 'bloody Potter' said, "Carina called me. I might as well see what I can get out of him. That is, after I find out what's going on here."

"No, I think I should…" Draco tried, only to have both daughters begin to argue the reason THEY should go up to their brother.

Draco threw his hands up in disgust. Finally, he felt a small tug on his trouser leg. Looking down, he saw his youngest, four year old Leo. "What, sweetheart?" Draco asked.

"Why is everyone fighting?" Leo asked with all the aplomb of a child.

"They're not fighting. They're…well…yes, right. Fighting." Draco bent down, picked up Leo, and started up the stairs, regardless of the others.

Once up in his other son's room he looked around. The room seemed empty. Afraid for a moment that his ten-year-old son might be up on the roof, on the widow's walk, he placed Leo on the floor and called out, "CYGNUS?"

"I'm under here," called his son. Draco looked around, then got down on his hands and knees and crawled under a blanket that his son had draped over some chairs and a desk. Leo was already under there.

"Right fine fort, Son," Draco said proudly, coming to sit beside his son on the floor, with a blanket overhead.

"Thanks," his son beamed bashfully.

"Tell me about Mummy," Draco said, getting to the heart of the matter.

While Leo crawled onto his father's lap, Cygnus said, "Promise you won't be mad?"

"Your mum would kill me if I didn't correct you, Son. The word is _angry, _not _mad_. Only dogs with rabies…and probably weasels with measles, get mad. People get angry. And I won't get angry."

Leo pulled his father's neck down to his ear and said, "What does Uncle Ron have to do with this?"

Draco smiled, kiss his toddler's chubby cheek and said, "I love it that you get me, sweet one. You and maybe your mummy, but no one else." Looking to his other son, he continued, "Now, go on. I won't get angry, I promise."

Unknown to the three occupants inside the 'fort' there was an audience in Cygnus' room by this time. Harry, Don, Lucius, Carina, Terran, Mark, and now Mark's father Nick, as well as Ron Weasley (who had heard the 'weasel' comment) was now in various stages all over the large attic space that was the boy's shared room.

Cygnus began to tell a tale much the same as his mother was about to tell a vampire…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sanguini took Hermione to a shabby looking little Inn called 'The White Dovetail Inn' and they stood just outside of it. Turning to her, he said, "Now, before we enact the enchantment to find this cheer you're looking for, do you mind telling me so very much just WHY you want to make sure your marriage to Mr. Malfoy is a mistake, after four children, two prophecies fulfilled, and seventeen years of marriage?"

She grasped his arm and said, "Oh, no, I don't think my marriage was a mistake. Please, never think that! I just don't want Draco to ever regret a day of it, either." With his arm still firmly in her hand, she pulled him over to a bench and they sat down outside a large picture window.

"Last February, when my father lay dying, my mother asked him if he ever regretting anything about his life," she began. "He was weak…so tired…and in and out of it, but at that moment he was lucid. He looked up at her, smiled, grabbed her hand and said, 'no love, I don't regret a single moment of my life'. I was standing just inside the room, heard it all, and I felt so happy at the saddest of moments. I mean, my father's life was ending, but it was ending perfectly, you know? And his answer gave my mother a sense of peace."

"She left the room, and he closed his eyes. I was about to follow her out of the room, when I heard him sigh." She held onto the vampire's arm with a grip that was tighter than before and said suddenly, "He looked at me, told me he loved me, loved the kids, and even loved Draco." Hermione began to cry.

Sanguini, who was never sentimental, or given to bouts of emotion of any kind, smiled kindly at her, smoothed down her hair with his hand, and said, "That should make you happy. He died with no regrets."

"I called Draco into the room, told him what my father said, and while my dad slept I asked him the same question and he said the very same thing. He said he had absolutely no regrets whatsoever, but I believe he lied to me that day. I think he did it to spare my feelings, because my father was dying, or because he felt guilty or something, but the truth is that he DOES regret marrying me, to a certain degree, and that makes me so profoundly unhappy, especially at Christmas time, that it's just impossible for me to be cheerful and happy."

"Ah…I see," Sanguini said. "Regrets. They are the thing that rips and tears at the seams that are the fabrics of our lives."

She looked at him oddly and said, "What?"

"Oh, sorry. I'm trying here. I don't do well with crying females and sorrow. I thought I was being profound. Carry on," he urged.

Shaking her head, she said, "Well, as I said, I told Draco about it, and we moved on, or so I thought, until we were planning this years Christmas celebration."

Sanguini waited a moment and then said evenly, "Why did you ask me to do this charm for you, Hermione?"

"I don't want Draco to EVER regret anything, do you understand!" she replied, standing before him.

The vampire started to laugh. "As if he could ever regret you!"

Back in the Malfoy's attic, Cygnus, who knew nothing of his grandfather's deathbed confession, explained, "Mummy told Uncle Paul that Daddy regretted marrying her, and it had something to do with Grandfather Granger's dying or something. Anyway, he suggested that she talk to Sanguini, because he knew all sorts of spells and charms and he could help her."

"But why would she think I regret marrying her?" Draco asked, aghast.

"And what does it have to do with me!" Lucius added from outside 'the fort'.

Draco crawled to the edge of the mock opening, saw the crowd before him, said, "Is there no privacy in a man's home, for Merlin's sake," and then crawled back under the shelter. "Yes, what does it have to do with Grandfather Malfoy?"

"You told him you regretted that we children weren't purebloods, like you and him," Cygnus responded.

"WHAT!" Draco, Harry Potter, and Carina shouted at once.

Draco pulled the blanket away with one swish of his hand and said, "I swear I never said anything of the sort!" He looked at his eldest daughter's eyes, the one to whom he almost never even got to know. Then he looked at his next daughter…who looked so much like Draco's own mother it scared him sometimes. Then he looked at Cygnus…all serious…but scared…a combination of him and Hermione. Lastly, he looked at his baby, who had crawled away from his father to hide behind Ron Weasley's legs.

"I never said that!" Draco reiterated, standing this time. "I SWEAR!"

"Actually son, I think you did," Lucius said slowly, guardedly, going to stand beside his son. "But if your wife overheard it, she overheard it out of content."

"When was this enlightening conversation?" Harry asked.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hermione wiped the last tear from her eye when Sanguini asked, "When did this conversation take place?"

"Three weeks ago." She stood in front of the bench and started pacing as she spoke. "I was so tired, school exams you know, and I told Draco that I wanted to do Christmas at our home this year, because I can't even think about doing it at my parents any longer, and I never liked doing it at the Manor, and all I asked from him was a bit of help. We were at the Manor, one of our mandatory monthly dinners, and he was in the study with Lucius, telling him that I wanted Christmas at home this year and Lucius was throwing a tantrum…"

Sanguini laughed, "As only a Malfoy can."

"Exactly, and I snuck, I mean, walked to the door, and I admit, I stood there a while to listen. I wanted to make certain that Draco stood up to his father, when suddenly, I heard clear as bell his father ask if he regretted marrying me."

"And what did your husband reply?" Sanguini asked seriously, his fingers coming around like a tight band on her wrist as he pulled her to a stop in front of him.

"He said his only regret was that his children wouldn't be purebloods, like him, and wouldn't know what it was like to grow up with two wonderful pureblood parents, and to know that nothing mattered more than the PURE blood that flowed through your veins, and the thousands of years of history that went with it. They wouldn't know a truly magical pureblood Christmas, with all the pomp and ceremony that Draco had when he was a child."

"Perhaps he was being factious," the vampire urged.

"He was perfectly serious, and there wasn't any venom in his voice. He didn't sound angry or anything. Then Lucius said something about how he picked his lot in life, and it wasn't such a bad lot, but by that time, I had moved away from the door."

Sanguini smiled slightly. "And because of all of that," he spread his arms wide, "you've lost your Christmas cheer."

Hermione sniffled and nodded. "Yes. I remember that year he had to go back in time, to our sixth year. It was the year I was pregnant with Carina. At first, only Draco was aware that he was from the future, but soon, I became aware of it, too. Remember? That was around the time I first met you. Neville Longbottom and I were attacked in the forest, so I was given a potion in my pumpkin juice so I wouldn't know Draco was from the future, but soon, the potion wore off and I remembered."

"He seemed so happy that we were having a baby…Carina. How could he regret that now?"

* * *

_**Flashback to Familiar Place III**_

_That's not what I'm saying, Ron!" Hermione complained as she reached across the table for the jam._

_"That's what it sounds like to me," he said back._

_Ginny sat next to Harry and asked, "What are they arguing about now?"_

_"Who knows?" Harry answered. He was tired of his two best friends being at odds. He was tired of all the intrigue with Malfoy this year. He was tired of Dumbledore's cryptic lessons. He was supposed to get a memory from Slughorn, and he had no idea how to do it. He watched as Hermione and Ron continued to bicker, finally realizing it was about Cormac and Lavender, and he said, "Enough!"_

_They both looked at him. He stated, "Ron, just shut up! You weren't invited to the party, and when Hermione was going to invite you, you were mean to her, so you can't go! Hermione, you don't even care about Lavender, not really, so why bother arguing?" He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes._

_"I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said. She patted his shoulder. Draco entered the hall but made a point not to look at the Gryffindor table. He was with Blaise Zabini. Harry watched as Hermione watched the pair of Slytherins._

_He pulled on her sleeve. She turned to him and asked, "What?"_

_He merely shook his head. "Does anyone know how Neville is doing?" Seamus asked._

_"McGonagall said that he'll probably be in St. Mungo's throughout Christmas," Hermione answered._

_Harry thought about Neville's parents, and the fact that they spent every Christmas at St. Mungo's; it made him sad for the other boy. He said, "We'll have to make a point to go visit him."_

_Hermione suddenly looked down and said, "I'm not going to the Burrow for Christmas now, but be sure to give Neville my love."_

_Ginny leaned toward her and harped, "Just because my brother's a git doesn't mean you can't spend Christmas with the rest of us."_

_With a mouth full of food Ron exclaimed, "Hey, I'm right here!"_

_"No, it's just that I already told my parents I wanted to go skiing with them," she lied. Her parents were going skiing, but she was planning to stay at Hogwarts. She wasn't sure why, but she thought she might want to spend some time with Draco. She had already remembered everything from before. She didn't know why she had forgotten, but only Harry knew that she had lost her memory, besides Draco, so for the time being she was going to keep everyone in the dark. Essentially, she still couldn't remember anything...at least that was her story if anyone happened to ask._

_Harry looked at her closely and said, "Are you sure?"_

_"They're my parents," she said back. She hated lying to Harry, but sometimes the less Harry knew the better. Hermione stood up and left to go to Transfiguration class._

_Harry leaned forward and said, "Ron, she's not going because you've been such a prat. You need to apologize to her."_

_"Oh, let her go get her apologies from her new little boyfriend," Ron spat._

_Ginny kicked him under the table. "OW!" he shouted, rubbing his leg._

_"You know she only invited Cormac to make you jealous!" Ginny explained._

_"I was talking about Malfoy," Ron said. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Seamus all turned to look at the Slytherin table. Draco gave them a rude hand gesture._

_"Why do you suppose half of the Gryffindor table is looking our way, Malfoy?" Blaise asked._

_Draco shrugged._

_"Malfoy!" Blaise snapped his finger to get the other boy's attention. Draco looked at him. "What's going on?"_

_"I wouldn't begin to know," Draco said, while looking at Hermione's empty seat._

_Harry leaned forward and said to his friends, "I happen to know that Malfoy's been playing her. He has a mission this year, from the Dark Lord…"_

_Before he could continue Ron said, "We all know about your theories, Harry."_

_"Shut up and listen," Harry said, irritated. "I think his mission has to do with Hermione. I heard him talking to Snape. He mentioned her by name. He said he would do anything to fulfill his mission. We need to convince her to come with us to the Burrow."_

_Ron looked back over at Malfoy and then toward his friends and said, "If that bastard hurts her I'll kill him."_

_Harry nodded and said, "He sent her some type of note that made it sound like he liked her, but it was a ploy."_

_"Bastard," Seamus concurred._

_Ginny kicked Ron under the table again. "WHAT WAS THAT ONE FOR?" he cried._

_"You apologize to her right now and make her come with us for the holiday!" Ginny gripped._

_"I swear, you get more and more like Mum every year," Ron said, standing up. He was going to go find Hermione when Lavender walked up to him and held on to his arm._

_"Won – Won," she said. Everyone at the table snickered. "Since you won't be at the little Christmas party of Slughorn's tonight, maybe you and I could go on a nice romantic date."_

_Ginny rolled her eyes, Harry bit his lip to keep from laughing, and Seamus openly laughed. Ron said, "Not right now, I need to find Hermione."_

_Lavender stomped her foot as Ron got up and ran out of the Great Hall. He went to their first class and found Hermione sitting alone, writing something on a piece of parchment._

_"Hermione?"_

_She looked up. "Hi, Ron," she said softly._

_"I hate it when we fight," he said._

_"Me, too."_

_"Listen, come to the Burrow. Christmas won't be the same without you," he begged._

_"Ron, this might be the last Christmas I get to spend with my folks." When she said the lie, she didn't even think about it, but after the words were spoken, she knew that it might be true. Maybe she really should go home for Christmas._

_Ron sat next to her and pulled the piece of parchment over toward him. He said, "What's this?"_

_"It's a list of names," she said._

_He started to read them aloud. "Vega, Adhara, Gemma, Aquilla, Hydra, Carina. What are these?"_

_Draco Malfoy walked in the room right at that exact moment and commented, "A list of constellations, you brainless dolt."_

_Hermione and Ron both gave him dirty looks. Draco was wary, especially since the name 'Hydra' was on the list. Did she hear him last weekend, when he visited her in the hospital wing? Did she remember that he'd told her that he and the future Hermione had discussed naming their daughter Hydra?_

_Hermione took the list from Ron, but Draco ran over and grabbed it from her first. Ron stood up and said, "Give it back, Malfoy!"_

_"It doesn't matter, Ron," she said. "He can have it."_

_Draco read the list aloud again and said, "These would make good names, don't you think?"_

_"Perhaps," she said._

_Ron remained standing, his fingers on his wand, as Draco walked back and forth in front of Hermione's table. "I especially like Hydra, don't you?" Draco taunted. "It's the name of the largest constellation."_

_"I know, and at first I thought that I might like the name, but then I remembered it was also from Greek Mythology," Hermione explained, standing her ground, and staring him right in the face._

_He balled up the list and threw it at her. It bounced off her chest and landed on the floor. She picked it up and smoothed out the wrinkles as Draco said, "So what if it is from Greek Mythology? The name Hermione is as well, and Hydra is Latin, for water snake. Draco is Latin for Dragon."_

_"Yes, but in Greek Mythology, Hydra was a creature with nine heads and the body of a snake, so I think it would be a horrible name, especially for a little girl," she surmised._

_Draco frowned. If**this** Hermione knew that, then why didn't his Hermione know that? No way was he naming his daughter such a disgusting name! He had to let his Hermione know this, and soon! Hermione almost wanted to laugh at the disgusted look on Draco's face. He leaned forward and pointed his finger at her. He said, "You remember don't you?"_

_Ron asked, "Remember what? Look, never mind, just back away, Malfoy."_

_Draco sat down at the table next to them. The tables in this classroom were end to end, forming a large 'U' around the room, so he was sitting right next to her. Ron frowned and said, "Go find another seat."_

_Draco smiled and said, "But my bum is so comfortable in this chair."_

_Harry walked in and saw Ron sitting on one side of Hermione, and Draco on the other. He walked up to Malfoy and said, "That's my seat."_

_"Really?" Draco asked with sugary sweetness. "It didn't say it belonged to a pompous arse with a lightning bolt scar and a hero complex. So sorry, old chap, but you must find a different chair."_

_"Get up!" Harry ordered. Other students had started to file into the room, and soon, no one was sitting. They were watching as Harry Potter and Ron Weasley drew their wands, and Draco Malfoy sat with his feet up on a table, next to Hermione Granger, who seemed oblivious to it all, as she continued to write something on her list._

_McGonagall came in, rolled her eyes and said, "Everyone find a seat now or the whole class with have detention!"_

_Harry leaned down to Hermione and said, "Let's go sit over there."_

_"No!" she whispered harshly._

_He pulled her arm to stand her up, and in her embarrassment at Harry's actions, she moved to another seat with him. She was now on the other side of the classroom._

_"Put your feet down, Mr. Malfoy," McGonagall said._

_"Say the magic word," Draco spouted._

_"Detention!" she said._

_"Sorry, the magic word was, 'Please'," Draco said, removing his feet. The class laughed and McGonagall's mouth became a tight, thin line right before she docked him house points._

_The professor started the class, and Draco reached over to the empty seat next to him, where he spied the parchment on which Hermione had been writing. She had circled the name, Carina, and had written on the side, "A constellation in the southern hemisphere, near the Southern Cross that contains Canopus, the second brightest star in the sky."_

_He smiled to himself and stuffed the paper in his pocket. That was a better name. Carina. He would somehow have to let the future Hermione know that they weren't naming their daughter Hydra after all. They were naming her Carina._

_Draco was in the Library alone when Hermione walked through the doors. She was also alone. She smiled at him. She did remember. He wondered if she had told anyone. Whom would she have to tell, really? He knew he wasn't going to tell anyone, not even Don. She walked by his table and dropped an envelope in front of him. Then she walked over behind two shelves, where there was a lone table, and she sat down._

_He opened the envelope and saw that it was a Christmas card. It said, **"****May****all****your****Christmas****wishes****come****true.****"** She signed it just, **"****Hermione**". No love expressed. He stuffed the card in his pocket, looked around and when he didn't see anyone watching him, he walked over toward the abandoned table to talk to her._

_She was reading. He sat down next to her and said, "Carina, huh?"_

_She shrugged._

_"So, you heard me the other night, in the hospital wing?" he inquired._

_She shrugged again._

_"Do you remember everything?"_

_She started to shrug, but he placed his hands on her shoulders. She smiled and looked at him. "For Merlin's sake, Granger, speak!"_

_She bit her bottom lip and tried to hide her smile. "We're going to have a little girl someday, aren't we?"_

_"Well, you aren't, for a while yet," he said._

_"Who do you think was trying to kill me in the forest, with Neville and Seamus?" she asked._

_"I really wish you still couldn't remember," he said._

_"Why do you think I forgot everything?" she inquired._

_"You took a potion, either of your freewill or someone gave it to you. It must have worn off by now."_

_"I wouldn't take something to make myself forget," she warned, "that means someone gave it to me."_

_"That's more of a problem," he said, more to himself. He picked up her hand and began to play with her fingers, absentmindedly._

_When he didn't speak for a moment, she said, "Are you still planning on staying here for Christmas break?"_

_"Yes," he said, distracted. He still had her hand, and he was rubbing it with his. She liked it._

_"I'm staying, too." She smiled._

_He dropped her hand. "No, you have to go to the Burrow, so Pothead and Weaselbee can protect you."_

_"I'll stay here and you can protect me," she seethed, scooting her chair out from under the table, "or better yet, I'll protect myself! I'm more than capable. I'm not some weak female, you know."_

_"I'm not arguing that fact!" He tried to pick up her hand again, but she placed both her hands together, and placed them on her lap. "Fine, be like that. By the way," he started, "I want you to know that anything I might say and do tonight at Slughorn's party are all lies. I have to relive this year, and the first time I did some things at the party that I'm not proud of and they're things that I would rather forget."_

_"What sort of things?" she began, but added, "Wait, you aren't part of the Slugclub. With whom are you coming? Zabini?"_

_"I'm crashing," he said, and then he leaned back in his chair. He had to sneak in so he could get the poisoned mead to Slughorn. He closed his eyes for a moment and then laughed a bit, before opening them. He warned, "Watch out for your date tonight. You've told me stories about how he was grabby, and he tried to snog you all night long. Just stay away from the mistletoe."_

_"Cormac?" she asked._

_"How many other dates do you have to this thing?" he asked back with a twinkle in his eye._

_"He seems like a gentleman," she remarked._

_"Fine, don't believe me. Stand under the mistletoe and let him have his way with you."_

_"You wouldn't care?" she asked softly._

_He leaned forward, and drew his index finger down her face, starting at her temple, along the outline of her hair. He ended by placing his hand behind her neck. He brought her face close to his and with his lips next to hers he said, "I care. Believe me, I care."_

_She slowly blinked, and then she opened her mouth slightly. As she took a deep breath in, he leaned another centimeter toward her and placed his lips lightly on hers. He leaned back just as quickly._

_"Why did you do that?" she asked. "I thought we had to be circumspect."_

_He wiggled his eyebrows, pointed overhead, and said, "Mistletoe."_

_She looked up. There wasn't any mistletoe. She looked back and he was walking away, whistling a Christmas carol. She smiled. She already loved him. She really did._

* * *

**Back to the Present**

"I see," Sanguini frowned at her little story. "Fine. But you do realize, that if you hadn't married him, your little half-mudblood children wouldn't have been born. Also, if you hadn't met him going back to school, a crazy woman would have probably become more of a threat to our kind than Voldemort ever dreamt of becoming. If you hadn't married, you would never have found out your connection to the four founders. If you hadn't married, and had Carina, my daughter in turn might not have met Nick Boot, and they might not have had Mark, and then Mark and Carina well…no…I won't tell you what great things are in store for them. Anyway, it's rather like unsucking someone's blood. It can't be done. You married him. So be it. Be happy."

"What? That's your suggestion to me? Paul suggested you would have a charm or a spell that would show me what life might have been like for us if we hadn't met on that train all those years ago."

"Yes, well, Paul Boot is a bloody idiot, or hasn't history already taught you that?" Sanguini stood up. "Anyway, didn't I just mention what would have happened if you hadn't met? Blood, pestilence, end of our kind as we know it? The blood I don't mind but I wouldn't wish the rest on my worst enemy. Bloody hell woman, if that doesn't mean you're meant to be together, I don't know what does."

She sighed. "I don't mean I want Helene Boot to have lived, or anything like that," she said, recalling things that had happened 'because' Draco and she had fallen in love. "I just want to know: _what__if_."

Sanguini pushed on her chest, forcing her to sit back down on the bench. "Fine, but we do this my way, or no way. I might have a little spell I know of, hmm, yes, I think it might work well. Hence, the reason we're here at this Inn."

"You were going to help me all along?" she asked.

"Of course I was," he laughed. "Perpetual memory, remember? I already knew about this and already have everything ready for you! Everything is waiting inside for you. Once you step over the threshold of this door, you'll no longer be wife and mother of Malfoys. Likewise, though, there are no worries - Helene Boot is no more. The Founder's excavation went on without you, and yes, discoveries were made without you. Inside that Inn, everything is right with this world except you are no longer married to Draco Malfoy and he's no longer married to you."

"Wait. That's not exactly what I wanted," she complained.

"Too bad, so sad, I can't help, nor do I care, what you want. It's what is," he explained. He pushed on her back and knocked on the door of the Inn.

"Will I be aware of everything?" she asked, turning back to look at him.

"You mean, will you be aware that you asked me to help you because you got a stupid notion in your head and you decided to go around looking for something unobtainable, like 'effing Christmas cheer', in a place you'll never find it? Or do you mean do you know that you're Hermione Granger, drop dead, know-it-all gorgeous, but pain in my arse freak of nature?"

"What?" she repeated, even as he said, "No."

The door to the Inn opened, and Hermione was pushed inside.

_(Only one more chapter…with no flashbacks, though it was nice to relive them, if only just for me.)_


	5. Part V

**All Characters Belong To JKRowling**

**Part V – The Dovetail Inn**

Hermione Granger walked into the door of the Dovetail Inn and immediately felt a strange sensation come over her. It wasn't because it was Christmas Eve and she didn't want to spend Christmas Eve at a strange Inn. It wasn't because there was a powerful blizzard raging outside. It wasn't even because she was all alone, stranded in a far away place away from family and friends. It was because somehow this didn't feel right. Somehow, none of this felt real.

Still, she had nowhere else to go, so she forged ahead.

Walking up to the desk, she spied the clerk behind the counter and smiled weakly at him.

"Yes?" the man asked.

"Please tell me you have a room available," she said, sounding slightly pleading, shaking snow from her head even as she removed her hat, brushing it from her coat.

"Got caught in the storm, did you?" the man said jovially.

Hermione sighed openly and nodded.

The man laughed and said, "So did a few other witches and wizards who came to our fine little village. Too bad the ancient magic in this area makes Disapparating impossible. No Portkeys either, or so I've heard. Hence, everyone is stuck here. Good for business, bad for them, though, for who wants to spend Christmas Eve away from home, hmm?"

Again, Hermione tried to smile as the man continued. "Aye, I have one room left, as the others have all filled up due to the storm, and what a storm it is. Hasn't had a storm of this nature in a long, long time."

Hermione continued to smile weakly at the man and nodded again as she removed her coat, scarf and gloves.

"Were you with the people from Hogwarts?" he asked.

Again, she nodded and smiled. She was indeed visiting this small hamlet this weekend – an ancient magical village – along with a few other witches and wizards. Hermione was a professor at Hogwarts, and was dispatched to this village, called Bethlehem oddly enough, somewhere near the Muggle city of Wiltshire. Sent here along with a few other professors, they were to see if there was any chance of opening a day school for children here. Unlike most of her fellow professors, she decided to stay an extra day so she could study the village's history a bit closer. Hence the reason she was now stuck in the snowstorm on Christmas Eve.

While she continued to think about her bad luck and her surroundings, the man had already started walking up a rickety set of stairs, so she was forced to follow.

"I only have four rooms, you know," he explained as they walked down the hallway of the upstairs, "five if you count the room my wife and I sleep in. Three brothers took one room. A very fine gentleman took my best room, a young married couple took the room my wife and I usually sleep in, therefore we'll be sleeping in the kitchens and a quiet man took the only room we have downstairs. Now you're taking our last room, which is up in the attic. Never worry though; it's a right fine room. It's the smallest room we have, but warm and clean."

"I'm sure it's fine," Hermione assured her host.

He continued down a narrow hallway on the second floor, went up a second set of stairs at the end and pointed. "There it is, lass. The bed is already turned down; because we figured, we'd get another guest tonight. The room right down there is the room that belongs to the fancy gentleman. I think he's got some money - that he does, and single too." The Innkeeper winked at Hermione and then smiled again.

Hermione smiled back once more, even though she knew it was feigned and then went into the small room. It was warm, as there was already a fire lit in the grate and the bed was turned down. She sat on the small bed and turned her head toward the single window.

For a moment she forgot the man was still in the doorway until he said, "Well, lass, dinner will be served in a half an hour, down in the dining room. Will you be joining us, or shall we send a tray up?"

She nodded mutely, not answering his question, stood, and went to look out the window. Then she heard the man walk down the stairs, leaving the door open behind him.

Hermione continued to stare out her window and a feeling of utter despair fell over her. A sense of longing and nostalgia came over her and filled her with gloom when she realized that it didn't matter if she was here or at her home this year. She was all alone at Christmas time anywhere she was. That thought hit her like a ton of bricks. Her father died last winter, her mother was traveling this holiday, Harry and Ron both had families, and Hermione – well, Hermione was thirty-five years old, had no husband, no boyfriend, no children, and at the moment she wasn't even at her beloved Hogwarts.

Having no way to console herself, she realized that it didn't matter one way or another if she was at home, at Hogwarts, or stuck at a gloomy, little Inn, in an attic bedroom, which only had one window, in the middle of a snowstorm, with a bunch of strangers.

"Happy Christmas," she said softly, placing her hand on the cold glass of the window, closing her eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Draco Malfoy cursed the day he was born! He had the worst luck! Standing in the middle of his room in an Inn far away from home, with his hands clenched in fists at his sides, his jaw compressed tightly so that his mouth expressed a frown, he thought of how he didn't even want to come to this godforsaken village in the middle of nowhere, anyway! His charitable organization was considering backing the building of a magical school here so out of the goodness of his little black heart he came here. He saw everything he needed to see, decided to donate the money, then he went to a bar and got drunk. Pissed out of his mind. When he woke up there was a blazing snowstorm outside and he couldn't leave!

He was stuck here! He left the town's one, and only pub (called the Pig's Eye, for goodness sakes!) and he walked over to the town's one, and only Inn (called the Dovetail Inn, for cripes sakes!) and he demanded the best room in the dingy little place.

The man at the desk told him the best room had already been given to that buffoon Neville Longbottom and his new wife Luna Lovegood. Apparently, Neville was a professor at Hogwarts and had come to the village along with some other professors for the same reason Draco had come. The thought of Neville being married while Draco himself was still single caused bile to rise in his throat. Not that he wanted to be married. There were always plenty of beautiful women willing to give Draco their bodies and hearts, but there was never one in which he wanted to give his.

He gave the man a hundred galleons, told him to put the newlyweds somewhere else, and soon he was in the Inn's best room.

Now, standing in the middle of it, he decided that if this was the place's best room, Merlin help the poor sod who got the worst room, that's all Draco could think! He walked over to the window, looked out at the blasted snow falling all around them and cursed low even as he thought of what a terrible Christmas he was going to have – no matter where he would be.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Realizing she was fifteen minutes late for dinner, Hermione rushed down the attic stairs toward the second floor hallway, to try to find the Inn's dining room. The place was small, so it shouldn't be hard to find. Concentrating on her mission, she didn't realize that the door to the room at the end of her stairs opened as soon as she reached the bottom. Therefore, she ran straight into the person who exited the room.

The man reached out to stop her, but they still ended up literally on the floor, arms and legs tangled together, Hermione on the bottom, Draco Malfoy on the top, with a look of genuine surprise on both their faces.

Hermione's chest was heaving, taking in great gulps of air, even as Draco tried to hold the upper part of his body away from her with his weight on his arms. They looked in each other's eyes for long moments, absurdly long, and then Hermione started to laugh, even as Draco started to frown.

Hermione's laughter stopped as Draco's eyes shifted to her mouth. That movement caused her eyes to shift to his mouth. Tingling warmth spread over her entire body, as he continued to lie upon her, and they remained silent, taking a quiet inventory of the other.

Finally, he spoke. "Hermione Granger. You don't get to walk much as a professor at Hogwarts I take it?"

She smiled and from underneath him said, "Draco Malfoy. You still fancy yourself above others, don't you? At least, you're above me at the moment. Do you mind getting off me?"

"I might mind it," he said, settling down on his elbows, his chest coming down closer, crushing her breasts, his mouth centimeters from hers, his breath brushing the side of her face. "You're still a know it all swot, I take it, aren't you?"

"And you're still a pureblood pig, are you not?" she asked calmly, moving slightly underneath him.

"Ah, you might not want to move like that, Granger," he warned. "I think I like it a bit too much."

"Pervert," she said without really meaning it.

He laughed and said, "Too true, but still…"

A man walked out of another room and asked, "Is everything alright down there?"

Draco sprang off her as if he were burnt. Hermione sat up suddenly and brushed down the front of her jumper and skirt. Draco offered his hand to her. She swatted it away and stood on her own.

The man walked closer and said, "My name's Don Boot. I think I remember you two. You went to school with my brother, Terry. And then there was all that nasty business with my stepmother a few years ago. I'm sure you remember that, Miss Granger."

"Yes, I remember," Hermione said hastily, even as Draco said, "Oh, yes, sorry to hear about your brother's death."

The man acknowledged Draco's condolence and said, "It was a long time ago, but thank you. What are you two doing here?"

"I was with the delegates from Hogwarts who were looking at this village as a potential site for a day school and I got stuck in the storm," Hermione explained. "I don't know why Malfoy's here."

Draco sneered at her, turned to the man and said, "Well, I'm here because I'm the man with the money. If the school's to be built, I'm the one who will be backing it."

Hermione gasped. "I didn't know that."

"Why would you," Draco countered.

"I don't know, but I wish I had known, that's all," she returned.

"So you wouldn't have participated?" he leveled.

"Don't be daft," she accused. "I think it's wonderful, that's all."

Draco was taken slightly aback by her praise. He neither commented or smiled or did anything. Finally, to fill the silence that fell over the trio, Mr. Boot said, "Well, I'm here with my two brothers, Nick and Paul. Do you remember them, Miss Granger? You met them a few times when they were in their animagus forms. I'm not sure if you ever met them as men, but anyway, we got stuck in the snowstorm, too."

"I recall meeting them as men and wolves. What do you do now, Mr. Boot? Do you still work for the Brotherhood?" Hermione asked.

"I do a bit of everything," he said evasively. "May I escort you down to dinner, Miss Granger? I think we're a bit late as it is."

"I'd like that," she agreed, taking his arm as he offered it to her.

Draco walked behind the pair, wishing that he had thought to offer his arm to Hermione instead, although wondering WHY he wished that fervent wish. Furthermore, he wondered why he was watching her intently as they made their way down the hallway and then down the stairs to the little, cozy dining room.

He had never been attracted to Hermione Granger before, but here he was, watching her, and he liked what he saw. She had a nice shape, a cute bum, cute legs (they weren't long, since she was a bit on the small side) long curly hair, and in his opinion, beautiful breasts. When they were pressed against him, he liked what he felt of them. He could have stayed on top of her all day long. He imagined being on top of her many different ways.

Walking into the dining room, he noticed there were only three empty chairs and none of them was together. He would have rather sat next to Granger than anyone else, but that wish would go unfulfilled. Hermione sat next to a man with long, light brown hair, and he was forced to sit next to a vampire named Sanguini who was distantly related to him on his mother side, whom he never cared for in the least.

"Hermione, I didn't know you were here," Neville Longbottom said as they began to eat.

"Stuck just like you and Luna, although you were supposed to be on your honeymoon, I thought," Hermione answered.

Luna replied, "Neville wanted to spend one more day here, looking at some of the local foliage, and I had heard there were a particular sect of Telisculars here, and they are so very rare, as you know, so we decided to honeymoon here, instead of Paris."

The man beside Hermione asked in a soft voice, "What are Telisculars?"

Hermione shrugged.

The man offered her his hand and said, "I'm Nick Boot by the way. We've met a few times, if you recall, but that was many years ago. That man's over there is my brother Paul, and I take it you've already reacquainted yourself with my brother Don."

Hermione took his hand and said, "Pleasure. It seems you recall that I'm Hermione Granger, and that's Draco Malfoy across the table."

"I can make my own introductions, Granger. We aren't together or anything," he said snidely.

"Excuse me," she snipped.

"I'm glad to hear you aren't together," the youngest Boot brother, Paul said. He had the darkest hair of the lot, cut short, and piercing blue eyes. Though he sat opposite of Hermione, he glared at her and gave her a leering grin, at least in Draco's opinion.

Nick Boot continued the introductions. "Next to Mr. Malfoy is my wife's father. I know he looks as young as you and I. He has a real name, but he'd kill me, probably literally, if I introduced him with it, so I'll merely tell you he goes by the moniker Sanguini."

"Oh," Hermione exclaimed, looking across the table at the pale man. "The vampire. I met you once, a very long time ago, at a Christmas party at Hogwarts. Professor Slughorn was hosting it. You probably don't remember me."

The vampire smiled slyly and said, "My dear, I remember absolutely every single moment of every single event of my very long existence. Of course I remember you."

He turned to Draco and smiled as well and said, "And you're Draco Malfoy, correct?"

"You know damn well who I am," Draco said, loading his plate with goose and trimmings.

"Draco, that's rude," Hermione chastised.

"Who are you, my mother?" Draco responded. "Anyway, he's a distant relative, unfortunately, and as he said, he remembers everything, so he knows who I am."

Hermione continued to give Draco a reproachful look but gave that sentence no more thought as the group began to eat and converse. Soon, everyone was talking about their rotten luck at being stuck at an Inn so far from their homes on Christmas Eve, about how they couldn't Disapparate away due to the ancient magic of the village, and what they would be doing if they were at home for Christmas.

Everyone save for Draco and Hermione.

Don Boot asked, "What plans did you have for Christmas this year, Miss Granger?"

All eyes turned to her and she licked her lips. Lifting her glass to her mouth to prolong answering, she placed it back down on the table and finally said, "I had no plans. I was probably going to spend it alone this year. You see, my father died shortly after Christmas last year, so my mother made plans with friends this year, and my friends all have their own families, so I would probably have spent it at Hogwarts, or maybe at my house in Hogsmeade. But I would have been alone, I'm sure."

She placed her hands in her lap. Hanging her head, she felt suddenly embarrassed and on display. She didn't want anyone's pity, except she felt a bit pitiful and sad at the thought of being alone at Christmas.

Draco spoke up and said, "I was planning to spend Christmas at the Manor. It was to be the traditional pureblood Christmas that I had when I was a child."

"Oh, that sounds nice," Luna offered.

Draco snorted. "No…it's really not."

"Why not?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice. "At least you'd be home, and with your family."

"Home…with my family," he repeated cynically. He threw his napkin on the table and stood up to look out the window. All eyes turned to him as he explained. "Let me tell you what a pureblood Christmas is like at Malfoy Manor. There are Christmas trees in almost every room, all eighty-eight of them. And when I was a child, I was never allowed to touch even one of them, let alone help decorate them. All I wanted to do was help to decorate a tree, just once, and I was never allowed to do that."

"There are boughs of greenery and garland hanging from every archway and doorway, kissing boughs and mistletoe, and all of it's put up by the house elves. My mother and father wouldn't lower themselves to do any of the work themselves."

He turned to look at the others as he explained, "Christmas Eve my father would have all his fellow Death Eaters come over with their families. Yes, what fun it was to stand around with a bunch of pureblood bigots, talking about Voldemort, and maligning Mudbloods and Muggles and such. They would talk about how important it was to keep pureblood traditions alive and never let them die….yes, Happy Christmas Eve indeed."

He turned back to look out the window. "Christmas morning I would open my presents. I always got a multitude of them, more than a child would ever need. After I opened them, the house elves would promptly put them all away, so that the house was kept neat as a pin in case company came over, as they always did, because our house was the pinnacle of pureblood elite, so everyone wanted to come visit at Christmas."

"Christmas dinner was a formal affair. Seven course meal, where if I used the wrong utensil, I would get a reproachful look from my father, or a disdainful one from my mother. I couldn't even enjoy the food because I was afraid of using the wrong fork or the wrong spoon, or afraid I would drink from the wrong glass."

Draco sighed and sat back down in his chair. "A happy little pureblood Christmas…yes...just what I will be missing this year. I think I'm happy about it, actually. If I never have another pureblood Christmas, I'll be overjoyed. If I ever have children, I hope they'll know the joy of decorating their own trees, of opening presents and getting to play with them all day, and eating the Christmas goose with the wrong fork, and of knowing that they're loved by their father and mother, whether or not they're purebloods or half-bloods."

Hermione glared incredulously at Draco for a long time after his speech, even though he continued to stare down at his empty plate. Soon, the dining room emptied, save for Draco and Hermione.

When he finally looked up, she said, "So you don't regret being home for Christmas this year?"

"I thought I did, at first, but now that I think about it…no, I don't regret it at all. Do you regret not being all alone at Christmas, Granger?"

Hermione stood from her chair and walked over to his side of the table. "Do I regret not being alone? No, I don't. I thought I lost my Christmas Cheer, although I'm not sure why, and suddenly, I think I might have found it. Silly, huh?"

He stood, pushing the chair away with the backs of his legs. Staring down at her he said, "Yes, very silly, Granger. My, but you're a little one, aren't you?"

"Little one?" she said with a grin.

He laughed. "That shall be my nickname for you. Little One."

"Oh, so you're going to have a nickname for me now?" she asked, hands on hips. "Do you know me well enough to have a nickname for me?"

He smiled. Resisting the urge to pull her to him, he merely placed a hand on her cheek quickly, then brushed her hair off her shoulder and said, "Yes. I rather think I do and will." Walking away from her, he said from the doorway, "Let's go see what the others are doing, Little One."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the main room of the Inn, the others had gathered and with Luna as ringleader, they had all decided to decorate the place for Christmas. Hermione and Draco had just entered the small room when she finished with, "After all, it is Christmas Eve!"

"What are you planning, Luna?" Hermione asked.

"I thought everyone could go out and get things we need to decorate this place for Christmas, and the Innkeeper and his wife said they don't mind. The Boot Brothers are going to get the tree and greenery, Mr. Sanguini is going to get us some ribbons and bows, although I'm not sure from where, and Neville and I are going to get a wreath to decorate."

"What shall I do? And Draco?" she asked.

Neville answered. "You two can go out and find some mistletoe. It's usually found on oak trees. I saw some in the woods behind the Inn."

"Mistletoe?" Draco asked, skeptically. "You want me to go out in the bitter snowstorm, freeze my bum off, for effing mistletoe?"

Luna and Neville both nodded.

He frowned, but took Hermione's hand and said, "Come on, Little One. Let's bundle up. We have to find some mistletoe."

Moments later, they were both in their coats, hats, scarves, gloves and boots, wandering in the little grove of trees behind the Inn, looking for an oak tree so they could find a twig or two of mistletoe.

With the sounds of their feet crunching in the snow, Draco asked, "So what have you been doing all these years, Granger?"

"Teaching mostly," she responded. "You?"

"Being lonely, mostly," he answered in a whisper.

She turned sharply and asked, "What? I didn't hear you."

"Busy. I've been busy. I have my own business. Went into Potions, you know."

"So I heard." She pointed to a tall tree and said, "There's an oak tree."

"You're so astute," he teased. Reaching out to touch the rough bark of the tree, he said, "I've heard you had a hard time of it the few years after Voldemort. Sorry to hear about all the business with the Boot brother's stepmother and the Founders excavation at Hogwarts."

"You heard about all of that?" she questioned, placing her back against the tree, gazing up into his silver eyes.

"Everyone's heard of your adventures," he said with a smile. "Why aren't you married, Granger?"

She opened her mouth into an 'O' of surprise at that question, however, she didn't reply. Instead, she dropped her head and asked, "Why aren't you?"

"I was betrothed, Astoria Greengrass, pureblood line goes back almost as long as my family," he murmured, reaching out to place a hand on the bark of the tree beside her head. He left his hand there and leaned closer. "But, we weren't suited."

"Ah…what was the problem, Malfoy?" Hermione asked with a smile. She almost had a snide retort on her lips, but she kept it to herself. She seriously wanted to know why he didn't marry her.

"Why didn't you marry Weasley?" was his reply.

Bending her head to stare at the snow between them, she took a deep breath before answering. Finally, she looked up into his silver eyes again and said, "He wasn't the man for me."

"And Astoria wasn't the woman for me," he mirrored her answer, leaning closer. Placing his other hand on the other side of her head, caging her in, he placed his nose against her jaw, then said into her ear, "I've been waiting for the right woman, and I think my waiting has finally come to an end."

Hermione closed her eyes. She felt his warm breath upon her cold cheek. He moved her hair away from her neck with his nose and kissed her cheek swiftly. Just as quickly, she turned her face to his and placed her hands upon his chest, pushing him back slightly, and questioned, "Malfoy?"

And he replied, "Mistletoe." Then he pointed overhead. She looked up. High above them, on a branch not too far beyond their reach was a twig of mistletoe. She laughed, looked back into his eyes, and saw that he too was smiling.

"Mistletoe," she said in return.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They walked quietly back to the Inn, their arms laden with more mistletoe than anyone would ever need. Hermione wanted to ask him questions, wanted to say so many things to him, but she didn't know where to start or what to do.

Draco kept looking over at Granger and somehow he knew that this was the woman he was meant to be with. How he knew…well…it was as if she was imprinted into his soul. True, he'd known her for most of his life, and for most of his life, he hadn't given her a second thought, but seeing her again tonight was like turning on a light inside his dark heart that he had long thought extinguished. This was the woman he was meant to spend the rest of his life with…his 'Little One'…his lover…his wife.

Entering the Inn, they noticed a bustling of activity. A large tree was now in the corner of the main room and the three Boot brothers were decorating it with popcorn, figs, candy canes, and other ornaments and candies. Luna and Neville were hanging garland across the mantle and the vampire was tying bows on a giant wreath which hung over the fireplace.

Soon, Hermione and Draco started to hang their mistletoe, and help with the rest of the decorations. Someone, perhaps Don Boot, started singing a Christmas carol. Soon everyone joined in. No one noticed when a young man and a young woman opened the door to the Inn, and rang the bell on the counter. No one noticed until finally the Innkeeper walked over to the pair, talked to them quietly, started to shake his head, and pointed toward the door.

Draco was on a chair, hanging boughs of greenery across a window, when Hermione noticed the young couple leaving. Hermione pulled on his trouser leg and said, "Draco, what do you suppose that young couple wanted?"

"They probably wanted a room, but there aren't any, are there?" he said off handed, adding, "hand me another bough."

Ignoring him, Hermione walked over to the Innkeeper. "Sir, what did that young couple want?"

"Well miss, they needed a room, but I had to tell them that we were at maximum capacity, we are," he stated. "But I told them they could use the shed out back, if they so desired."

"The shed?" Hermione repeated. "Is it warded against the cold and elements?"

"Not rightly so," the man said, "but they're wizards. They can make it comfortable."

Hermione frowned at that statement. Grabbing her hat and coat, forgetting her boots, scarf and gloves, she ran outside to follow the young couple.

Draco watched her go and said, "Where is she going?" He jumped off the chair and grabbed his coat, gloves and scarf to follow her.

The Boot brothers all noticed in turn and decided to follow as well. Luna and Neville didn't want to be the only ones in the Inn, so they were right behind the brothers. The only one who remained in the Inn was the vampire, who sat in the corner with a snifter of brandy in his hand and a smile on his face.

Hermione reached the shed just as she heard the woman scream. Running into the small, almost dilapidated building, she noticed the woman lying on the ground, her husband on his knees beside her.

Hermione skidded to a halt beside them and asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"Her time's come," the man answered.

Draco ran into the small shed behind Hermione. He heard that answered, understood it clearly, but still asked the man to repeat it. "What in the bloody hell do you mean by that, my good man?"

"She's pregnant, sir, and her time's come. She's going to deliver the baby, and we can't get to St. Mungo's in time," the young man repeated.

"Oh no!" Hermione replied, turning around frantically. "We have to get them into the Inn! They can have my room."

"No. They can have my room," Draco offered, taking Hermione's hand.

Luna got down on her knees beside the woman and said, "That's kind of both of you, but it's no use. She can't be moved. The baby's coming right now."

"NO!" Draco and Hermione shouted together.

Luna gave a small laugh and said, "Yes, and don't worry. I'm a healer. It'll be fine. Go outside, all of you."

Hermione, Draco, Neville and all three of the Boot brothers walked outside of the shed while Luna attended the woman during the birth of the woman's child. Though it was still snowing, and freezing cold, none of them left the portal of the shed's doorway.

Hermione's hands were half frozen because she forgot her gloves. Draco noticed how she kept putting them in her pockets, and rubbing them together in front of her. At one point, he walked to her, took her hands in his, and rubbed them between his gloved hands. She felt like melting into his embrace. A little bit later, when she was leaning against the side of the shed, Draco walked up to her and opened his long, fur-lined coat. As if she could read his mind, she walked up to him and he wrapped her inside its warmth, cocooning her inside it with him, his arms around them both, her arms slipping around his waist.

He kissed the top of her head.

She looked up at him.

He lowered his face and kissed her lips. It was a slow and simple kiss, but it meant more than either of them knew. Then he slipped his scarf off his neck, wrapped it around her neck, and then slipped his arms back around her body. "You can have my scarf and my arms," he said with a sly smile.

A moment later, Luna walked from the shed and said, "It's a boy."

Hermione slipped from Draco's embrace, applauded, smiled, and laughed along with all of the others. Everyone wanted to see the newest addition to their little Christmas family, so they all crowded into the shed.

"It seems as if the little chap should spend his first Christmas somewhere besides a shed, doesn't it?" Draco said. "I'll give you all my room. It's the nicest room in the place, or so they claim."

"Oh, thank you, sir," the father of the baby said, shaking Draco's hand. "But where will you sleep?"

Draco looked at Hermione, who blushed, and then he smiled and said, "I'll find a spot. Don't worry about me."

Hermione unwrapped Draco's scarf from her neck, tucked it around the baby, and said, "Here, he can have this to keep him warm and toasty."

Standing upright, Draco nudged her arm and said, "That was a nice gift, Little One, but it was my scarf, and it was cashmere."

She laughed and said, "I know, but you'll be sharing my room later, so don't complain."

"Well, hell yes and alright then," he laughed.

Don Boot removed a gold ring, with a large sapphire in the middle of it, from his finger and gave it to the father. "Here. This ring is worth a small fortune, for it once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw. You can keep it, or you can sell it and it will help the boy out a bit, you know, later in life."

Nick Boot, the tallest brother with the long, light brown hair, took a book out of the pocket of his long coat, handed it to the father, and said, "And this book was once the property of a great seer. It's always brought me great luck, and I'm sure it will bring your son great luck, too. It tells the bearer his future, which has come in handy a time or two."

The youngest brother, Paul, reached into his pocket and handed the father a piece of parchment. "This might not look like much, but it's a valuable piece of parchment. It's an ancient text, which will always chart the morally right way for a man to go. I have to admit, I've not always heeded its advice, as I've should, so perhaps it will bring your son more luck than it has me."

"Thank you, thank you all," the mother finally said.

"What are you going to name the boy?" Neville asked.

"I don't know," she answered. "We haven't come to an agreement. My husband likes Robert, but I like Harry, after my hero, Harry Potter."

Hermione laughed aloud at that, and Draco looked at the woman in disgust. "I'll set up a trust fund for the boy of ten thousand galleons if you promise not to name him Harry," he pledged.

"His name is Robert," the mother said plainly to Neville as everyone laughed.

Later that night, in Hermione's room, Draco and Hermione sat on the floor with cups of steaming chocolate between them. Her hand was in his, and she said, "It's so strange, but I feel as if I've known you all of my life."

"You have known me all of your life, Little One," he regarded.

She huffed, and said, "You know what I mean. We haven't seen each other in years, yet I feel so connected to you. It feels so strange, as if we've been a part of each other's lives for so long. You just seem so, I don't know, what's the word I'm looking for? Familiar. That's it. You seem so familiar."

He nodded and agreed. "I feel it, too, Granger. You're familiar, too." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, before coming back down to sit on the floor. "It's after midnight now, so Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas," she repeated, smiling broadly.

"Have you found your Christmas cheer?" he asked.

"Yes, I think I have," she said happily.

Sanguini opened the door to the attic bedroom in the Inn and said, "It was about time." Then he waved his hand and the spell was broken. Hermione shook her head in confusion. Sitting in front of her was no longer the Draco Malfoy whom she hadn't seen for years, but Draco Malfoy, her husband of many years.

Draco too seemed confused and weary. He looked around his surrounding and then to the vampire and said, "Where the hell am I, you git?"

"You were an essential part of my scheme to help your wife retrieve her Christmas cheer," Sanguini said with a wave of his hand. He sat down on the little bed in the attic bedroom of the Inn. "By the way, do you both remember everything that just happened?"

They both nodded. Hermione looked at her husband and said, "What about what I overheard you say to your father a while ago, about you regretting having a pureblood Christmas, and pureblood children?"

"You're so dense, Little One," Draco said with a roll of his eyes. He stood up and began to pace in front of her. "What you heard me say to my father, while you were eavesdropping by the way, was almost word for word what I said down there in the dining room tonight while under the vampire's spell. I was mocking my father that evening. I was saying to him, in a dry, drawl way, that of course I wanted to have a pureblood Christmas with all the trappings, because of course, I missed the vacant, hollow way it made me feel when I was growing up! But I didn't mean any of it when I said it to him!"

He reached for her hand and pulled her to stand up beside him. "If you had stayed and listened longer, or barged in as you usually do, you would have understood that. You would have heard everything, instead of just bits and pieces! My stars, Granger, I don't regret marrying you or our children! I love you! Having you and having our children are the best things in my life. You are my life!"

"I'm sorry, Draco," she told him. "And that's hard for me to say," she admitted with a laugh. "This next thing is even harder for me to say, but you're right. I was too quick to assume you had regrets. I've been feeling rather out of sorts and low. I think it's because I'm restless and weary, and a bit sad. I'm not sure why."

"Is it because you miss your father?" Draco asked.

Shaking her head no, she said, "It's more than that."

"You usually get this way when you're pregnant," Draco said with a derisive laugh.

She smiled.

He stopped smiling.

"You're not pregnant again, are you?"

"Happy Christmas, I hope you like your present, although you won't get it for another five months," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "Yes, I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Draco plopped down on the bed beside Sanguini. "Did you know about this?" he asked the vampire.

The vampire said, "I think that's my cue to leave," and he left the room, closing the door.

Hermione sat beside him and said, "Are you happy or not?"

"Well of course I'm happy," he said with a frown.

She snorted. "Yes, I can tell by the look on your face. Buck up, old man, because I have more news. I'm having twins. A boy and girl."

Draco placed his head between his knees. "I think I might faint."

With her hand on his back, patting it lightly, Hermione said, "Please don't faint yet. Let's go home first and tell everyone and then you can faint."

Draco sat up and said, "My father will absolutely insist this time on having us call the boy Scorpius, you know. I see no way around it. We'll have to let him have his way for once."

They stood and started down the steps. "Fine, he can have his Scorpius, as long as I get to name the girl whatever I want."

Draco pulled on her arm, causing her to stop. "What do you want to name her? Please tell me you don't want to call her Hydra." He shivered.

"No. I think I want Beth, short for Bethany, but in my mind, I'll always think of it as short for Bethlehem, the place where I found my Christmas cheer. Is that alright?"

He placed his arms around her, kissed her cheek and said, "As long as it isn't Hydra, I'm good. Scorpius and Bethany. Strange combination, but so are we, so that's fine. Happy Christmas, Little One. I love you."

"Happy Christmas, Draco. I'm sorry I went looking all over for my Christmas cheer, when all I had to do was find it with you all along. Forgive me?" She gave him a lopsided grin.

"Forgiven," he replied.

They left the Dovetail Inn, and soon they were home, sharing Christmas joy and cheer with family and friends, and telling them all their happy news. Hermione decided it was a wonderful way to end Christmas, in a familiar and happy place, after all. And Draco quite agreed with her.

The End


End file.
